Malthouse's Government Inspector

We took out our third subscription to Malthouse, for 2014, last September

The first was to be "Philadelphia Story" a 1930s work by Philip Barry, and our first surprise was to be informed that the production had been denied copyright for performance by the estate of the playwright's wife. The substitute announced was Nicolai Gogol's "The Government Inspector" which we of course recognized as a classic of Russian farce and quite looked forward to being educated in this eastern genre in light of current world events. We should have been tipped off about expectations when we received an email on the eve of the performance saying "In an extreme case of art meets life, this production – created after a series of fateful mishaps – is about a show created after a series of fateful mishaps. Turn that around in your head a few times. 'It’s completely silly and one of the silliest things I’ve ever done.' Director Simon Stone "

 

 Photo from arts hub linked below

We had a great night and thought it a marvellous season launch for a theatre known for its exuberant productions.

In the result I heartily endorse this review by Deborah Stone at arts hub

"The original Government Inspector is a play about mistaken identity and the way we beg to be made fools of. The inhabitants of a corrupt Soviet town hear that an incognito inspector will be visiting and go to extraordinary lengths to please the new arrival; except that the new arrival is not the real inspector, merely a humble civil servant who ends up making fools of them all. Stone gives us an entirely different setting, a contemporary ensemble of actors waiting for a star director from Russia. But the setting is only part of the way in which this production plays with the original. It is much more a theatrical riff on the themes of The Government Inspector than a modernised or even a reset production, so that the title turns out to be as much mistaken identity as everything else.
The pleasure of this production is much like that of a jazz performance: the play takes off in multiple directions that escape the discipline of form but reward us with the joy of performance itself, an occasionally discernible melody and some individual moments of virtuosity. The result is enormous fun, if a little chaotic."