THEATRE REVIEW: A Government Inspector ★★★

A Government Inspector

21st March 2016

The Birmingham Repertory Theatre

Originally written in 1835 by Nikolai Gogol, this production of A Government Inspector was commissioned by the Rep Theatre in association with Ramps on the Moon, a company whose sole ambition is to integrate BSL (British Sign Language) and audio description into theatre these days. This meant that the performers all had some sort of disability on stage, whether this may be sight, sounds, or physical movement. This was also apparent during the production as a subtitled screen was suspended at the high point of the stage itself, which would then allow those in the audience with hearing difficulties to see what was going on, as well as an actor who was both playing a character and signing at the same time.

So the plot itself revolves around a town where the mayor has received news that a government inspector is to arrive soon, which has the residents initially shocked and excited at the same time. Soon, a well dressed gentleman, Khlestakov, and his friend, Osip, arrive, and with the whole town then believing that this gentleman is the government inspector, treat him with the utmost respect and gratitude, from welcoming him upon arrival and offering a tour of the town and a place to stay. As the play continues Khlestakov starts to suspect what might be happening and so plays along with it as he realises what this brings for him, but as he starts to get more comfortable, taking all the townsfolk money, but the Major then starts to have suspicions, and soon all hell breaks loose, but that would be giving too much away.

For me this play started off quite promising, and it should be said that before the show started there was a technical hitch, making the production go up late, but due to the spontaneity of a Mexican wave by some students further down in the stalls where we were sat, the wait wasn't too long. I really found myself distracted though by the subtitles in the first half though especially, as I found that it was too big and bright, and had me at points looking at the end of a punchline to a joke looking at the board accidentally, which realistically ruined the enjoyment. This was also the general feel around the audience is well as I was sitting during the interval, but going into the second half of the production I managed to control the urge to look and so enjoyed the whole production a lot more.

I felt that there was some really strong performances in this production though, especially from Francesca Mills, who played Maria, the mayor’s daughter. I found myself personally transfixed and fully engaged with that character because Francesca showed so much expression on her face whether she was talking or in the background, much more than most the other performers, but also she had the stage presence and attitude that really made you warm to her character. On the other hand, I found the performances from David Carlyle (Mayor) and Robin Morrisey (Khlestakov) to really grate on me as the performance went on - I felt that it very much felt that there wasn't much to their abilities that made me really invested in their performances, which is a real shame as I thought the set and abilities from the whole ensemble cast was full of so much energy and enthusiasm.

Overall, I found A Government Inspector to be a very interesting story performed in a creative way altogether, but for me personally found it challenging at times with the long winded scenes and struggle to keep the pace going, but still full of laughs and passion from the majority involved.