★★★★

“for a comedy of misunderstandings, it is easy to understand why the play has become a classic”

The Russian-American novelist, Vladímir Nabokov, said of Gogol’s “The Government Inspector”: “It begins with a blinding flash of lightning and ends in a thunderclap… and is wholly placed in the tense gap between the flash and the crash”. Patrick Myles’ adaptation stays perfectly true to Nabokov’s description, literally reading it as a stage direction. Except Myles has downplayed (for the better) any sense of tension, filling the gap instead with its flashes and crashes of humour. There are subtle updates in the language that bring the play closer to our own time, but the original satirising of greed, stupidity, political corruption and hypocrisy needs little tweaking to sound as relevant today as it did nearly two hundred years ago.

In a Northern English provincial town, Governor Swashprattle (Dan Skinner) wakes from a nightmare only to be plunged into more misery as the town’s corrupt officials assemble to spread the news that an incognito inspector will soon be arriving to investigate them all. In the flurry of activity to cover up their misconduct and misdemeanours, further panic erupts from the suspicion that he has already arrived. They blindly assume that the over-privileged Londoner staying at the local inn is he. Percy Fopdoodle (Kiell Smith-Bynoe) quickly cottons on to their mistake and, being the unscrupulous hustler that he is, milks it for all he can, accepting all their bribes and soaking up their wine and women.

The comedy is frequently slapstick, and always farcical. But perhaps too pronounced, exaggerated even, as the characters compete for laughs. There is a definite ‘Blackadder’ feel, with Pythonesque touches. And it is difficult not to bring to mind ‘Fawlty Towers’ – particularly, of course, ‘The Hotel Inspectors’ episode. Yet there is also a restoration feel, and the characters all have names that are a mix of P. G. Wodehouse and pantomime. It is a mash-up that is reflected in Melanie Jane Brooke’s set and costume. The Governor is a Napoleon lookalike, while his daughter (a hilarious Chaya Gupta) dresses like an overpampered poodle. Cultural references surf the centuries too, yet bizarrely it somehow works, like a Chuck Berry guitar solo layered over Beethoven’s ‘da-da-da-dum’.

The performances are suitably heightened. Skinner’s Governor Swashprattle is a distinctly unlikeable chap, but we warm to him in a boo-hiss kind of way. Smith-Bynoe’s smooth-talking grifter holds the show with a commanding performance. We (almost) sympathise with the irresistible urge of this con-man to out-con the con-artists. The narrative is fantastically preposterous, until the fourth wall is broken and there is a sinister realisation that the farce is quite close to the bone. The famous last lines that the Governor throws to the audience “What are you laughing about? You are laughing about yourselves!” are famous, yet overshadowed in topicality by others in Myles’ revised text; at one moment poignantly stealing from, and paraphrasing, Stalin: ‘It’s not who votes that counts – it’s who counts the votes’.

Social commentary or fantasy? “The Government Inspector” is both. Its targets are obvious and the depiction of them clear cut but caricature. Opening and closing with a bang, it is loud and funny in between. Some subtlety wouldn’t have gone amiss, but for a comedy of misunderstandings, it is easy to understand why the play has become a classic.

KING LEAR at Riverside Studios

★★★★

“a stunning sight that feeds our imaginations”

The air is thick with silence. And darkness. As we hold our breath, our eyes slowly adjust while a blanket of white light spreads across the back wall like an uncertain dawn. Silhouettes appear like ghosts on polaroid. A crack of sound. Not a word is spoken. King Lear: a fallen angel with bleached hair, is flanked by the black-clad figures of Goneril and Regan. Gestures alone reveal the deception of their false declarations of love. Cordelia watches from the side, until Lear grabs the back of her hair. We realise the silence has been replaced by an electronic drone, pulsing within its crescendo. Still, not a word is spoken. We are in a world of silent screams. A visual tableau long before the invention of language. A modern world, yet one that is as timeless as Shakespeare. We are in Tang Shu-wing’s world.

Shu-wing’s all female production of “King Lear” premiered in Hong Kong in 2021 and was performed in Shanghai two years later, before coming to Riverside Studios for its UK premiere. The director’s style – ‘nonverbal theatre of gesture’ – is the star of the show. Whether the West London audiences are ready for this or not is a moot point. The boldness of the production will keep audiences transfixed. Minimalist and stylised it reduces Shakespeare’s tragedy into ninety minutes of silent physical drama.

Whilst the emotions are sharply conveyed, it is strongly advisable to be familiar with the original text. Otherwise, one might drift, pulled by the urge to seek another distraction in our thoughts. Occasionally it feels like just one part of a wider exhibition. An installation that we would like to wander into and out of. And we wonder: is it a work of art? Is it dance? Is it mime? Or all the above? Is it classical? Is it sci-fi? Jade Leung’s costume design is chic and modern while Billy Ng’s music is a futuristic canopy layered onto Anthony Yeung’s contemporary soundscape. Tsz-yan Yeung’s lighting is as much a narrator of the story as the performer’s slick movement, gestures and expressions. Shadows are cast, then sliced away by light: a single shaft like the blade of a knife, or a blood red flood of unease, tension and murderous intent.

It is a stunning sight that feeds our imaginations but also allows it to create its own subplots. We can grasp the narrative of the principal roles while the supporting players add neither confusion nor substance. Led by Cecilia Yip as Lear, the dynamic cast are fearless, forceful yet smooth as silk. Controlled, yet as fluid as the genders portrayed. There are no boundaries to cross here. No such thing as men or women. Just characters whose movements speak louder than words. The emotion comes to the fore. Cassandra Tang excels in the role of Cordelia, doubling as the Fool. Lindzay Chan’s Gloucester is a tragic figure, not just wordless but sightless, whose outstretched limbs and bloodied eyes convey the noiseless agony loud and clear. But here is no real lead player. Like gender, individuality is merged into an ensemble that moves as one.

And still not a word is spoken. As the final tragedy litters the stage, the figures morph back into their silhouettes. And the air is thick with silence once more. But only briefly. We hold our breath again, before the applause. We are not entirely sure what we have just witnessed, but we know our hearts have been touched. Evocative and original, Tang Shu-wing’s “King Lear” is challenging but is a theatrical dare that should not be resisted.

Tag Archives: Jonathan Evans

THE GOVERNMENT INSPECTOR

★★★★

Marylebone Theatre

THE GOVERNMENT INSPECTOR at the Marylebone Theatre

★★★★

“for a comedy of misunderstandings, it is easy to understand why the play has become a classic”

THE GOVERNMENT INSPECTOR at the Marylebone Theatre

Reviewed on 8th May 2024

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Oliver King

Previously reviewed at this venue:

THE DREAM OF A RIDICULOUS MAN | ★★★★ | March 2024

A SHERLOCK CAROL | ★★★★ | November 2023

THE DRY HOUSE | ★★½ | April 2023

THE GOVERNMENT INSPECTOR

THE GOVERNMENT INSPECTOR

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KING LEAR

★★★★

Riverside Studios

KING LEAR at Riverside Studios

★★★★

“a stunning sight that feeds our imaginations”