NORWICH – The spotlight’s set to shine on the Norwich Theater Company as cast and crew bring their rendition of “Blithe Spirit” to the Martin W. Kappel Theater at the Chenango Arts Council in Norwich starting tonight.

Hailed as genius in some respects for its tragicomedy approach, “Blithe Spirit” has been a crowd pleaser since its stage debut in 1941. It tells the story of Charles Condomine (played by Nick Tyler), a somewhat snobbish writer on a quest to write his next big book. Hoping to gather material for his book, Condomine invites a socially awkward medium, Madame Arcati (played by Donna Moren), to his home to conduct a séance. He also invites a socialite couple, Dr. George Bradman and his wife (played by Larry McMaster and Ericka Tyler) along for fun.

But Condomine’s scheme to use Madame Arcati’s offbeat ways is turned around when she summons the ghost of his first wife, Elvira (played by Jenn Winslow) who isn’t happy about her husband’s marriage to his second wife, Ruth (played by Liz Burgess), and does what she can to interfere.

In spite of the conceivable gloominess of mixing death and comedy, the mood of the play is often lightened by the graceless conduct of the Condomines’ maid, Edith (played by Tess Markham).