Seances, a clairvoyant, the ghosts of two dead wives:Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit  has it all and the King's College Drama Society's comedy production conveniently comes just in time for Halloween.

The plot follows Charles Condomine (Giles Pengelly), a novelist about to write a book on 'The Unseen', inviting the clairvoyant Madame Arcati (Hannah Walker) to hold a seance at his house together with his second wife Ruth (Ella Mahony). Things go horribly wrong when Madame Arcati accidentally summons Charles' first wife Elvira (Sam Brain).  The quickly emerging love triangle drives both Charlie and Ruth to despair and Elvira to take drastic measures.

The play's opening is a witty dialogue between Charlie and a snappy Ruth, talking about their marriage and previous acquaintances. Mahony gives a great impression of Ruth as a stiff upper-lip, strictly rationally thinking wife. Her appearance on stage is impressively authentic. The connection between Pengelly and Mahoney works instantly and consistently throughout the play. Pengelly, though a bit wooden and loud at times, makes a good effort as an adorable but innocent husband caught in the middle of the battle between his two wives.

The play's dynamics change rapidly with Walker entering as the clairvoyant. She immediately takes control of the scene and drives the whole play with her sheer endless energy. She gives an excellent dubious magician and her remarkably odd appearance seems perfect for the role. When Brain (Charlie's second wife) is summoned the play fully takes form and the love triangle develops. As a credit to director Emma Bourne, both Brain and Mahony seem very well chosen as the cast for Charlie's two wives: while Mahony gives a reserved, almost frigid second wife, Brain plays exactly the opposite as an emotional, slightly seductive and somewhat naive first wife. Dan Eastment also deservers a special mention as an ironic and disbelieving doctor.

Given that this is the first ever performance in Cambridge for some of the cast, the acting was quite impressive and certainly promising.

The usage of the (somewhat unconventional) Keynes Hall was interesting and seemed to serve its purpose. Some minor mistakes and a few forgotten lines (that were remarkably well picked up by Walker) don't affect the play too badly.

However, the play is a bit slow and unnecessarily long-winded at times and the ending just falls flat. The final showdown built up throughout the two hours of the play is unsatisfactorily short and does not live up to its expectations. The play's dramatic scope drops down before ever reaching its climax and more could have been done with the build-up throughout the play, which leaves the viewer somewhat disappointed.

The play is, nevertheless, definitely worth seeing as it features a promising cast, a funny plot and some comical moments. Coward originally wrote this play as a cheering up for the war-weary Britain of the 1940s. With the imminent Week 5 Blues looming, this play seems to have lost nothing of its original intent.

Blithe Spirit runs at Keynes Hall, King's College until Saturday, 8pm