THEATRE REVIEW: An Inspector calls @ Theatre Royal

An Inspector calls

Theatre Royal

What could the dreadful suicide of a young girl by drinking disinfectant have to do with 5 well-heeled , self-satisfied , uncaring people gathered for an engagement party?

J B Priestley’s classic thriller, set just before World War I is a Greek tragedy, with an inevitable outcome from the moment the deus ex machina Insp Goole’s emerges from the swirling mist and heavy rain to the doorstep of the Birling’s twisted lop-sided mansion.

Stephen Daldry’s production – originating at the National 28 years ago is as fresh and scarily real as it was then, particularly because of the surreal setting of the misproportioned house which in the end has a sort of life of its own.

Each of the 5 main characters is intimately involved with the unseen girl’s tragic end – she was fired from Mr Birling’s factory, got the sack from a dress shop thanks to Birling’s daughter Sheila ; kept as a mistress and jilted by Sheila’s fiancée the dreadful Gerald; refused much-needed charity and shelter by Birling’s pompous and smug wife and finally made pregnant by the Birling’s wayward son Eric.

If it all seems incredibly fanciful and too coincidental , remember this is a Greek tragedy and social polemic signifying much more than its basic story.

The Inspector , brilliantly timed by Liam Brennan, starts with his soft Scottish burr , twisting and turning his questioning to trap confessions from each suspect in turn, but as the play grinds on, becoming angry and judgemental – standing in for Priestley and his strong sense of social justice.

Jeffrey Harmer is a typical Priestley monster – a self-made man who cares little for his workers or the dangerous ideas of Shaw and HG Wells , who surprisingly, he is aware of. Harmer gets the right level of grotesques coupled with massive lack of self-awareness or irony.

Standing out from the rest, Chloe Orrock as Sheila subtly moves from silly young “ thing “ to the only member of the family with some kind of conscience and Daldry cleverly makes her address us direct right on the curtain line.

At other times the play, run for 105 minutes with no interval , gets bogged down in some fairly wooden acting, but the driving force throughout the night is Brennan’s inspector – also addressing us with the house lights on reminding us that “ we’re members of one society- responsible for each other “

And then as the surprising denouement arrives, we are presented with a spectacular surreal finale that makes the waiting worthwhile.

An Inspector Calls is at the Theatre Royal Brighton till Saturday 29 February and then on tour. More info here: