Review of The Government Inspector at Perth Theatre

Mar 22 2011 by Alison Anderson, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

LOCAL government politics and exuberant hilarity aren’t usual bedfellows, yet a visit to Perth Theatre between now and April 2 comes highly recommended for an entertaining and top quality production of The Government Inspector.

Glasgow-based Communicado theatre company reprises exclusively for Perth Theatre its acclaimed production of The Government Inspector, written by Nikolai Gogol and given a lively adaptation by Adrian Mitchell.

Director Gerry Mulgrew – a favourite with Perth audiences thanks to his 2009 adaptation of Tam O’Shanter – steps into the lead role as the Governor of a small Balkan town (populated by Glaswegians and a Geordie!).

Overnight the Governor and the town’s other corrupt and self-serving officials become grovelling sycophants when they learn that a government inspector is in their midst. Their undoing is that they mistake a penniless scoundrel for the all-powerful inspector.

In this age of abuses of office, shaky coalitions and broken promises, The Government Inspector’s hilarious and vicious expose of the corruption of petty power is as timely as it was when first performed more than 150 years ago. Yet this is not a serious work, and the gusto with which the large cast tackle this tale is a joy.

Sometimes this production teeters on the brink of utter madness, yet happily it remains just on the right side of sanity, and manages to stay within sight of Gogol’s satirical intent.

Mulgrew has assembled an excellent and versatile company who cleverly keep up the fast pace while adopting different characters, playing a wide range of musical instruments and even bursting into song on occasions.

In fact it is the live Balkan-inspired music played by the entire cast which really lifts this production into higher echelons. Great stuff from musician extraordinaire Alasdair Macrae, the production’s musical director, multi-instrumentalist and a leading member of the cast as both the dodgy postmaster and the visitor’s long-suffering manservant Osip.

The lively musical interludes mask the changes of scenes designed by Jessica Brettle, whose use of revolving doors emphasises the fast pace, with the company’s precision timing maintaining the momentum.

No one puts in a more robust performance than Mark Prendergast as the visitor, Ivan Khlestakov, who, once he realises that he is mistaken for the Government Inspector, milks the situation with energetic aplomb.

Gerry Mulgrew (who by now has surely qualified as a National Treasure) plays the Governor with flair by the tonne-load, and there’s a lovely double act by James Bryce and Simon Tait as Dobchinsky and Bobchinsky.

Sergey Jakovsky’s lighting design greatly contributes to the quality of what is the final major production at Perth Theatre before the new artistic regime under Rachel O’Riordan comes into effect later this year.

Alison Anderson