The Government Inspector
Nikolai Gogol, adapted by Phil Porter
Directed by Gregory Doran
Chichester Festival Theatre
Star rating: 4
Gogol’s groundbreaking 1836 play is very famous but this was the first time I’d seen it – and an interestingly entertaining experience it turned out to be. I haven’t laughed so much in the theatre for quite a while.
It’s a satire – and, in Phil Porter’s new version very much a farce – which sends up the imperialist Russian regime from the point of view of an insular little town in Ukraine thereby adding more than a whiff of topicality. The simple plot presents the lazy, incompetent corrupt men who cosily run the town suddenly being informed that they are to be visited by a government inspector. Then a stranger, Khlestakov (Tom Rosenthal) turns up and they make an incorrect assumption. Cue for some glorious sycophancy on their part, lucrative opportunism on Khlestakov’s and a lot of comedy rooted in dramatic irony and physicality. No prizes for guessing where the plot has to end.
Phil Porter’s writing is witty and current and it was an inspired directorial idea to have characters using a wide range of British vernacular accents because it make these people feel real as well as spicing up the comedy with incongruity.
The production uses an extravagantly large cast of eighteen which includes some terrific character acting (Nick Haverson as Khlestakov’s servant Osip, for example) and a magnificent central performance from Rosenthal whose comic timing is almost perfect especially when he turns to the audience with asides. And his drunk scene which ends with him being carried/somersaulted off stage is fun.
This is the first time Gregory Doran has directed at Chichester and his very distinctive finger prints are all over this production. He has a knack of making every single word and movement interesting, and often funny, which is what makes this show so compelling. He also ensures that the large company works seamlessly together. His device to end the play is a masterstroke too because it unsettles the audience and, no spoilers, is a trick I’ve not seen before.
Also noteworthy is Francis O’Connor’s dramatic set which manages to mix grand arched doorways with ramshackle houses and untidy filing cabinets. And there’s a beautifully contrived scene with a bed, a dormer window and a character climbing up and falling though it. To do that convincingly (and safely) is pretty impressive.
The icing on the already pretty tasty cake cake is the three piece Russian (or should that be Ukrainian?) folk band led by smiling Corey Wickens on violin. They play on stage as a curtain raiser, cover the scene changes and add lots of atmosphere with lots of deliciously evocative, rhythmic, minor key melodies.
