The award-winning National Theatre’s production of J B Priestley’s classic drama An Inspector Calls is making its thirtieth anniversary tour. Thankfully, Hanley’s Regent Theatre is one of its ports of call and local theatregoers are in for a treat.
Set in the years immediately before the First World War, the plot revolves around the wealthy Birling family. Arthur (Jeffrey Harmer) – a local industrialist and magistrate who has recently been Lord Mayor – and his wife Sybil (Christine Kavanagh) are celebrating the engagement of their daughter with a lavish dinner party.
Sheila (Evelyne Oyedokun) is making plans to unite two prominent manufacturing families with her impending marriage to Gerald Croft (Simon Cotton) and her celebratory party is completed with the attendance of her younger brother Eric (George Rowlands).
All seems very bright for the Birling family and, with the likelihood of a knighthood for Eric in the upcoming honours list, it would appear that nothing can halt the progress towards enduring happiness.
However, this serene journey through life is shattered on the arrival of the mysterious Inspector Goole (Liam Brennan) with the announcement that a young woman has taken her own life in the most excruciating fashion.
Despite protestations of innocence, the veneer of civility is stripped away from the family members as their attitude towards women and those from lower positions in life are revealed and each of the Birlings has a part to play in the girl’s demise. Despite being an excellent worker, the girl was dismissed from employment after agitating for a higher wage and then lost a further position when deemed to be prettier than the daughter of the house. Used and abused by the menfolk, she lost her last hope of finding a way out of her perilous position when Sybil refused assistance after being approached as the leading light of a local charity.
With their household quite literally crashing to the ground, the Birlings are relieved to discover that there is no Inspector Goole or local suicide’s body in the town’s morgue, Arthur prepares to return to his way of life as if nothing had happened. But there is to be a rude awakening in the final scene.
An Inspector Calls is now a staple of the GCSE curriculum and the packed audience contained many in their teenage years who were privileged to witness the work of a master playwright at the peak of his powers brought to life in superb fashion. This is a brilliant production with excellent acting performances that brought the characters to life as real but flawed beings. There is plenty for the student to unpick in this classic. But what about the person in the street who has not attended for academic reasons?
Despite being more than seventy-five years old, this play remains gripping and thought-provoking with its references to class war and the place of women in society – there was loud applause when Sheila slapped Gerald as he tried to wriggle out of his infidelity – and under the Direction of Stephen Daldry these themes are highlighted to great effect. Ian MacNeil has produced a delightful set and the sound and special effects add the expertise of Rick Fisher, Stephen Warbeck and Sebastian Frost to the overall ambience. In addition, the work of Francis Campbell has produced ladies’ costumes to die for.
An Inspector Calls is one of those slices of dramatic art that can be seen time and time again without losing the ability to make the audience member discover something new. Adored by drama teachers, this shows the young what an exciting medium the stage is. However, my thought is that this is a play for all. Don’t let the teenagers have all the fun.
An Inspector Calls continues until October 8th and has a running time of an hour and fifty minutes. For ticket details, contact 0844 871 7615 or atgtickets.com/stoke
