The Sullivan Rep, ** out of 5. This new outfit out of Newton, MA asserts the admirable goal of quality work on a local scale, with an emphasis on those who have forgone a pro career in favor of other life choices. (There are many such folks out there.) I missed the first offering, Steel Pier, though a fine job was done on A Little Night Music in June; Noel Coward’s ghostly comedy Blithe Spirit is not as fortuitous. Echoing recent stabs at Chekhov and others in Manhattan, director Dan Sullivan places a small number of seats, 15 I think, around the perimeter of an evocative room – here, the Tudor-accented meeting place of the Women’s Club of Newton Highlands – and stages the play around and past us. The idea is fine, but the execution founders on three hours of shaky British accents, mushy diction (Coward has to be crisp and word perfect), and one-note performances among the leads. Intimacy is gained, but the bravura wit of Coward’s characters is muffled, with the principals’ inner life tending to drop out between bon mots. In the small role of a chattering neighbor, Carly Evans embodies the proper style and vocal energy most consistently, with Janis Hudson not far behind as she channels Jennifer Saunders as Elvira, a spectrally-recalled jealous first wife. Catherine Lee Christie is peppy as the daffy medium Mme. Arcati, but would do well to explore the fullest range of her vocal register. Props and costumes are first rate. Runs through Oct. 26; www.SullivanRep.com.