Gravel Theatre Company in association with
Hairy Back productions presents
THE GOVERNMENT INSPECTOR
By Nikolai Gogol, adapted by Adrian
Mitchell
There is a town. A town where vice
and corruption are rife. A town where the rich get
richer and the poor get flogged. Where the doctor has
victims rather than patients, where the innocent are
taught by the insane, and where justice is as cheap as
puppies. Isolated from modern society, unburdened by
morality and forgotten by the rest of the world…Until
now!
There is an Inspector coming. A
Government Inspector, with secret orders. And he’s
travelling incognito!
Ivan Khlestakov, a penniless nobody
from St. Petersburg with small
prospects and an over active imagination
is spotted at the local inn and mistaken
for the dreaded Inspector. He
exploits the situation for all it’s worth and panic
ensues as the bizarre inhabitants attempt to cover up
the corruption that lies at the town’s core. Willing to
give the visiting official whatever he wants in exchange
for a good report, they become victims of their own
stupidity, vanity and greed.
Premiered at the National Theatre in
1985, this is the poet and playwright Adrian Mitchell's
version of Gogol's classic satire, which remains as
timeless and relevant as ever. The Government Inspector
is a dark and hilarious high paced romp, holding a
mirror up to society and creating a fantastical world of
grotesque caricatures and farcical situations.