Stephen Daldry’s stunning production of J B Priestley’s An Inspector Calls grabbed the attention of Ally Pally theatregoers even before the curtain rose.
A small child came trotting through the stalls, clambered on to the stage, coaxed an old valve radio into life, and started peering through the heavy velvet curtain.
When it rose, we were confronted with the exterior of an extraordinary dolls house on stilts that could have been built for Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice.
Before a word was spoken, the sense of mystery and darkness was brilliantly established and the following 100 minutes did not disappoint.
The strangely distorted house - part of Ian MacNeil's striking set - became an extra cast member as the action spilled onto cobbled streets of a post Blitz landscape.
Although mute, it speaks of the opulence of its owners – the Birling family: nouveau riche Edwardian mill owners, whose avaricious patriarch (the blustering Jeffery Harmer) would prefer a damaging strike to paying his workers an extra tanner.
The family are having a dinner party to celebrate the engagement of daughter Shelia to wannabe-capitalist Gerald (Leona Allen and Tom Chapman – both effortlessly convincing) when there is an unexpected visit from Inspector Goole (a take-no-prisoners performance from Tim Treloar).
He’s investigating an apparent suicide of a young woman called Eva Smith who has imbibed disinfectant and was once an employee of Mr Birling. Her miserable employment, as he brutally demonstrates, is not the only connection: every member of the family is immersed and implicated if Eva’s death.
Like a cat cornering and playing with a mouse before eating it, Goole focuses on each member of the Birling clan. Jackie Morrison’s portrayal of the psychological demolition of self-righteous, complacent and hypocritical Mrs Birling is one of my theatrical highlights of 2024.
An Inspector Calls is part crime thriller and part morality play and easily bears comparison with Dickens and Shaw. Social messages aside, it is also a superbly constructed and engaging drama.
This multi-award-winning production started life at the National Theatre in 1992 and has become the longest running revival of a play - as it continues to highlight its relevance for generations to come.
The full house at Ally Pally included many GCSE students - the play is a perennial set text - who were riveted by its daring staging and perhaps its message of social responsibility and capitalism's complacent cruelty.
An Inspector Calls runs until 21st September at Alexandra Palace Theatre. https://www.alexandrapalace.com/whats-on/an-inspector-calls/
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