A Government Inspector Review

A Government Inspector

Theatre Royal Winchester, Winchester

When I saw YPS King Lear I thought it was an adaptation that forgot about any potential idea it had and lacked the heart of the play. Here is an adaptation that produces a recognisable setting and manages to produce the hilarity of The Government Inspector.

The play was adapted for this production by Deborah McAndrew, whose father once worked as a civil servant or the equivalent of a government inspector. With her knowledge, she brought Gogol’s satire on a group of corrupt officials within a small Russian town to the Yorkshire Pennines. In this setting, the production follows a local council under the robust yet gullible leader, Tony Belcher (Howard Chadwick). The council included a judge dressed in tweeds, who enjoys poaching in his spare time.The schoolmaster councillor was a nervous wreck, and the hospital manager used her looks to get what she wanted. From there the audience was treated to Northern accents and lively banter, complete with a brass band in tow.

The comedy of mistaken identity ensues once Jonathan Alexander Snapper Esquire (Jon Trenchard) arrives, and the council confuses him with the visiting government inspector. Jon appears as a dandy in matching purple suit and trousers, and acts flamboyantly throughout his stay in the town. It is hilarious to watch the council follow him everywhere he goes in Belcher's house, repeating, and expanding through movement and sound, every word he says. It even got to a point, as he got increasingly drunk and confident, that he could make outrageous, and perhaps powerful threats, without anybody realising that he could not possibly be a government inspector

It is clear how mad-cap the town is. Overflowing cabinets open suddenly like cash tills, characters sneak around whilst listening in on conversations, the postman delivers letters on bicycles, scooters, and roller-skates, and the doctor speaks using rattles. The darker side to the play is boldly shown, by the use of the band to represent the voices of the townspeople. Whilst it does help get the point across by such a small cast, it possibly takes away some of the bleakness of the situation

The satire is such a pleasure to watch and it is worth seeing Gogol’s work updated to a world of Yorkshire folk and brass bands. This is worth a low Top Price.