BWW Reviews: NOEL COWARD'S CHRISTMAS SPIRITS, St James Theatre Studio, December 10 2014

Noel Coward (Stefan Bednarczyk) is, believe it or not, having a bit of a crisis of confidence, wondering if he should be writing about ghosts as bombs rain down on Blitz-smashed London. He conjures (from what will become Blithe Spirit) the medium Madame Arcati (Issy Van Randwyck) and she soon summons Edith (Charlotte Wakefield), her gateway to the Spirits.

That's the simple set-up for Nick Hutchinson's captivating Noel Coward's Christmas Spirits (continuing until 23 December at St James Theatre Studio). Weaving songs, verse, broadcasts and readings into two hours of old favourites both well-known and not so well-known, we're invited to wallow in the wit and wisdom of Coward and friends. With the backdrop of St Paul's under attack framing the stage and the vibe very much drawing on the existential threat Britain then faced, the edge required to avoid incipient sentimenality is always there.

It's almost impossible to choose one song or reading over another, so glorious is the source material and so splendid are the performances. But I will. Stefan Bednarczyk's bravura rendition of "Don't Let's Be Beastly To The Germans" may be a tad politically incorrect these days, but what verve he brings to such a dazzling skewering of those Coward thought too inclined to be kind. Issy Van Randwyck gives full value to Ivor Novello's "Keep The Home Fires Burning", both a rallying call and an expression of the pain that war's separations brings. Charlotte Wakefield delivers "I'm Sending A Letter To Santa Claus" with charm and technical skill and all three are super in "Christmas Tree Angel".

If I'm not exactly a "Bah! Humbug!" about Christmas, I prefer a boozy Christmas Eve and a Boxing Day at the football to the Day itself, with its mawkishness, its biscuit tin imagery and its home and hearth focus. The triumph of this lovely show is that it made me look forward to the 25th December for the first time since I were a child who couldn't sleep, overexcited about the apparition of the toy-stuffed pillowcase and the tangerine and chocolate in the stocking. It reminds us too that Christmas (indeed the Spirit Of Christmas) has faced many foes down the years and that we mustn't be complacent about it infusing our world with decency every 25th December.

I could happily have stayed there listening to these brilliant performers from one Christmas to the next.

Photo Mark Douet.