STOPPING on its UK tour, a new highly inclusive production of Nikolai Gogol’s The Government Inspector comes to The Quarry Theatre where LEO OWEN caught the show.

Russian literature has a reputation for being weighty material often exploring depressing subject matter. However, Gogol’s satirical play The Government Inspector, challenges this by combining serious critique of human greed and political corruption with dreamlike surrealist humour comparable to the lighter works of Samuel Beckett.

"Dark and brooding Russian music" is signposted by a caption box above the set as the cast pose in comical ponderous stances, melodramatically freeze-framing. A combination of seven major theatre companies, the production’s cast is just as eclectic. Integrated with audio description, British Sign Language and subtitles, The Government Inspector combines profoundly deaf, dwarf, so-called “able bodied” and wheelchair using actors, seeking to both stimulate awareness of disabilities and champion disabled artists by removing barriers. This mix of acting talent also cleverly injects humour by layering up levels of interaction to add to the play’s overall feeling of confusion.

The show centres around the simple story of an ineffectual mayor (David Carlyle), panicked by the news of the imminent arrival of an undercover “government inspector” (Robin Morrissey). Ti Green’s simple two tier frame industrial set allows the audience to see into and through everything the characters do like the “Inspector”. Meanwhile, a watch tower and wonky clock represent its town hall setting and reflect the story’s absurdity.

In pantomime style the cast repeat words after the announcement a Government Inspector is coming to create an ominous atmosphere. The manic Mayor speaks twenty-four-seven and in amusing stage-whispered asides. Much of the play’s humour stems from a mixture of childish nonsense jokes, such as made-up diseases; ridiculous clarifications and characters stating the obvious while the action occurs; silly Monty Python style walks; absurd character reactions and slapstick physical humour. Gogol’s use of malapropisms ("The patients seem to be recovering like flies."), adaptor David Harrower’s clever modern rewrites (“We can't help every Tom, Dick and Yuri.") and Green’s inclusion of a painfully slow two floor lift, complete with an attendant and muzak, add to the show’s feeling of depraved hilarity.

The Government Inspector is a very acquired taste, lacking sympathetic four dimensional characters and despite its much lighter mood, still feels very Russian. Its cyclic structure cleverly allows us to view the situation from both sides, first from the anxious townspeople and then from the "Government Inspector". Whether you’re a fan of absurdist theatre, there’s no denying this is an accomplished high-energy production, boasting a multi-talented cast.

The Government Inspector shows at The West Yorkshire Playhouse April 16-30.