The Government Inspector
DramSoc’s winter play this year is Nikolai Gogol’s satirical comedy The Government Inspector. Banned by the tsarist government of Imperial Russia on its first publication, the play makes a mockery of the stupidity, greed and corruption of the officials of a small provincial town
Jack Williams
Dramsoc Social Secretary
DramSoc’s winter play this year is Nikolai Gogol’s satirical comedy The Government Inspector. Banned by the tsarist government of Imperial Russia on its first publication, the play makes a mockery of the stupidity, greed and corruption of the officials of a small provincial town.
The director, Simon Parker, has done a fantastic job of staging the play in an engaging, thought provoking and somewhat surreal way. There are many points in the play which will intentionally bemuse the audience, one of which is the rather original freeze-frame used to conclude the show. Many of his personal touches can be witnessed throughout, including the niche music that accompanies the play, and a strange old man with a long beard who sits and watches as Khlestakov (Nicolas Pimparé) proposes to Marya (Svetlana Guggenbuehl).
Amongst the newcomers to DramSoc are Helen Root as Anna Andreyevna and Svetlana Guggenbuehl as Marya Antonovna. Helen gives a pristine performance as a morally grounded older woman who competes with her daughter, Marya, for the affections of Khlestakov. Svetlana is a pleasure to watch as a flaunting, beautiful and eloquent young woman who is continually shunned by her mother, but whose persistence pays off as she wins over Khlestakov’s heart.
Khlestakov (the ‘inspector’) is played by Nicolas Pimparé, whose outrageous flamboyance and eccentricity suits the role perfectly. So good is his performance that his speech, during which Khlestakov utters outlandish lies about his supposed life as a high ranking official, will trick the audience into thinking they are in the Apollo theatre.
Tiberiu Chis (Tib) plays the highly stressed Mayor, whose efforts to control the chaos that ensues throughout the town are hilariously futile. Tib’s character perfectly blends an air of authority with that of hopelessness and complete impatience, and he manages to keep the character funny and relatable whilst hinting from time to time at a darker, more tyrannical man.
The townspeople provide laughter throughout in each of their own dysfunctional ways. Dobchinsky and Bobchinsky (Jack Williams and Joseph Hosier), ultimately the cause behind the chaos which engulfs the town, pile laugh upon laugh as their complete naivety and stupidity are embodied in ridiculous one-liners and episodes of physical humour; the sheer nonsense offered by their characters is something all lovers of silly jokes will appreciate. Zemlianika (Max Falkenberg McGillivray), the Judge (Joseph Dudley), Luka (Paul Cosma) and the Postmaster (Prashant Mahendran) as the corrupt officials complement each other’s characters very well, and all try to impress Khlestakov in their uniquely fruitless fashion.
The costumes are spectacular and the props and set also convey the mood and setting of Imperial Russia very well. The crew, especially the costume designers, have performed a stellar job in that department. The show is a very entertaining one, and I urge you to go and watch it on the two remaining nights!
The Government Inspector is being performed this Friday 6th and Saturday 7th December in the Union Concert Hall in Beit Quad. Tickets can be bought from the union website and are £5 for students, £7 for non-students, £1 extra on the door.
