Charles is a forty-year-old novelist who projects the image of a witty and conventional upper-class husband. He arranges a local séance under the guise of evening entertainment to gather material for a new novel about a fraudulent medium. Behind his polished exterior, he can be deeply dismissive of the women in his life and uses his intellectual flippancy to avoid emotional honesty. The resulting supernatural encounter pushes him into unfamiliar territory where his rigid control over his household fails.

Ruth is a woman in her mid-thirties who meticulously manages her household and expects high standards of propriety. As Charles's second wife, she initially projects confidence and claims to feel no jealousy toward his deceased first wife. She values domestic stability and social conventions, reacting with extreme frustration when supernatural events threaten her carefully maintained lifestyle. Her primary defense against chaos is attempting to medicalize or rationalize it.

Elvira is Charles's deceased first wife who passed away from pneumonia seven years prior to the events of the play. She returns to the physical world as a ghost visible only to Charles. Possessing a highly vibrant and morally relaxed personality, she presents a sharp contrast to the domestic strictness of her successor. She views the living world as her personal playground and demands absolute attention, scheming to break up Charles's current marriage.

Madame Arcati is a local professional medium who writes whimsical children's stories and biographies of minor royalty. She approaches her spiritual work with intense physical energy, requiring specific diets and rituals before conducting a séance. While the other characters view her as a source of amusement or a fraud, she operates with complete sincerity and absolute belief in her psychic abilities, celebrating any supernatural occurrences as massive scientific triumphs.

Edith is the new maid for the Condomine household. She constantly moves at a frantic, hurried pace despite strict instructions to slow down and project calm. Her nervous energy provides physical comedy during the otherwise rigid upper-class social gatherings.

Dr. Bradman is a local physician and a friend of the Condomines. He represents medical science and rational skepticism, viewing all supernatural claims through a clinical lens. He interprets strange events as symptoms of nervous disorders or hysteria, preferring logical, mundane explanations over ghostly interventions.

Mrs. Bradman is a talkative, socially eager woman who acts as a gossip within the local upper-class circle. She approaches the séance as a thrilling parlor game rather than a serious spiritual endeavor. She readily complies with her husband's instructions while seeking entertainment in the lives of her neighbors.

Daphne is a spirit child who serves as Madame Arcati's primary contact in the spirit world. She is summoned through a childish rhyme and the playing of a gramophone record to bridge the gap between the living and the dead.