Aylesbury Waterside Theatre – until 18 February 2023
Reviewed by Susan Portman
5*****
Written at the end of the Second World War and set before the First, An Inspector Calls is a compelling and haunting thriller. The story begins when Inspector Goole arrives unexpectedly at the prosperous Birling family home. Their peaceful dinner party is shattered by his investigations into the death of a young woman. His startling revelations
shake the very foundations of their lives and challenge us all to examine our consciences. More relevant now than ever, this is a must-see for a whole new generation.
Since 1992, Stephen Daldry’s production of An Inspector Calls has won a total of 19 major awards, including four Tony Awards and three Olivier Awards, and has played to more than 5 million theater goers worldwide. An Inspector Calls is the most internationally lauded production in the National Theatre’s history
I attended this show on St. Valentine’s Day. Not for me the scent of flowers then, more the whiff of suspicion and guilt in this dark and thought-provoking play. In essence the story is about a police Inspector who appears one night and calls suddenly upon the well-heeled Birling family to ask questions about the suicide of a young girl called Eva Smith. It transpires that this family all knew her, and all played a part in making decisions that affected her life but they are in denial that they could in any way be responsible for her death.
However, as Inspector Goole (played by Liam Brennan) questions each person, they are compelled to accept (individually and to a degree collectively) that Eva’s death could be inextricably linked with them and the Inspector astutely exposes truths about the family that they have hidden from one another. The skeletons fall one by one from the family
cupboards. Just as each member of the family displays outward disgust and accuses one another, so the Inspector turns the spotlight on them individually, and the more they try to distance themselves from their possible role in Eva’s death, the more the inspector pushes them to accept some responsibility. The family display classic raw human emotions such as anger, denial and eventually acceptance as the convivial and civilized beginning to the family’s evening descends into a combustible, finger-pointing train wreck.
There’s no escape. The inspector is just too clever (how does he know so much about them?) and will find them all out in turn. But hold on – there’s a beastly Priestly twist. Just after the Inspector departed leaving the Birling’s world in chaos, one of the group (Gerald
Croft, who is not a Birling but the fiancée of Sheila Birling) ascertains from a local policeman that there is no Inspector Goole, he doesn’t exist. The relieved parents think that all is fine again, and they can carry on with life as before, but the younger Birlings examine their consciences and regardless of whether or not the Inspector is genuine, know that
their lives will never be the same again.
As they reflect on the evening’s events there’s a collective feeling of ‘did that really just happen?’ The inspector had disappeared as quickly as he arrived, and they begin to think about putting this behind them. It isn’t over yet…
The silence is shattered by the sound of the telephone ringing – and it is a call from the local police station saying that there has just been a suicide, that they are taking a local girl into the infirmary after she swallowed disinfectant – and that an inspector is coming round to ask them some questions!
Goodness gracious me – let’s pause for a moment.
As for my experience tonight, I don’t want to begin with the characters, but the actual stage set. After a two-hour struggle to get to the venue (thanks to HS2 work) I took my seat with a couple of minutes to go until curtain up. When it rose, it revealed a quite astonishing scene, difficult to describe. It wasn’t the typical ‘Inspector’ scene from an Edwardian drawing room but (and I quote from the programme) a sort of ‘fairy tale house, which sagged slightly on stilts as if in a surrealist dream.’ The spiral staircase wound down to a bleak cobbled street below. The back-light was a night sky and there was a small house with a light on in
the distance and a big street light, both of which looked bleak through the fog.
Then something amazing happened. As children scrabbled around the cobbles on the stage it actually began to rain. In fact it poured. From where I was sitting I have no idea how they created this onstage but I have never witnessed this before. As the saying goes I was literally ‘gob smacked’ with this effect and the whole construction of the set. This, alongside the excellent acoustics and the unique surroundings of the Waterside Theatre itself, combined to trick my brain into forgetting that I was in a seat in a building, but that I was right there, in the scene. It was exhilarating.
What then of the actors?
Inspector Goole was played by Liam Brennon who has, made plenty of TV appearances. I quickly warmed to him as he revealed the inspector’s character in a polished, professional and believable manner. Slim and angular, he filled the stage with his presence at times, as he looked out towards the audience asking us indirectly (in character) what role we
might play in other people’s lives. I can see exactly why he got the part. I could not choose one favourite character in this play – they were all first-class. These are professional actors that amateur dramatists can happily aspire to. Their timing, delivery and body language was spot on. The sum was greater than its parts and the message of the play was clear – we are what we think, and say and do.
As I say, all of the main cast were terrific. Unsurprising then that several have made TV appearances. Jeffrey Harmer (Arthur Birling), Christine Kavanagh (Sybil Birling), Chloe Orrock (Sheila Birling), George Rowlands (Eric Birling), Simon Cotton (Gerald Croft and Frances Campbell (Edna) were never ‘working at it’ to deliver their lines, and there was a natural chemistry between them all. There were nonspeaking parts for supernumeraries also, including a young lad (Oscar Batham) who had a sweet if brief interaction with the inspector. One of the main cast members also had a non-speaking part and this should not be underestimated. When you don’t speak on stage, the audience focuses even more on every expression and movement and Frances Campbell, playing the old maid Edna was tremendous. The audience warmed to her immediately. She was a forceful, yet silent
presence on stage. Sometimes up front peering out into the audience, and at other times almost anonymous in the background, as she quietly observed the thin veneer of an outwardly civilised Birling family began to peel away, minute by painful minute around her.
Just as Charles Dickens asked us to examine our consciences when he wrote about greed and avarice in ‘A Christmas Carol’ so J B Priestly did with ‘An Inspector Calls.’
Who was this Inspector Goole character? A devil? An angel? He put me in mind of ‘Clarence’ the angel from ‘It’s a Wonderful life’ who was sent to earth to warn us that our actions affect others, our part in the play of life is important and we are responsible and accountable for what we do. If we had our time again, would we do certain things differently? Do we learn from our mistakes or perpetuate them?
The parting line from Inspector Goole (delivered masterfully by Brennan facing the audience) was one where he asserts that mankind must change and if it doesn’t then man will be taught in fire and blood and anguish. Was Priestly referring to the horrors of the World Wars, or something even sinister such as hell? Either way, I came away from the
Waterside Theatre in a sombre and reflective mood, which meant that the play had done its job. Please go and see it whilst you can – and contemplate the powerful message that it delivers.