An Inspector Calls

Synopsis

When Inspector Goole calls unexpectedly on the prosperous Birling family investigating the suicide of a poor young local woman his startling revelations shatter the very foundation of their lives. As the Inspector asks insinuating questions it becomes clear that they all bear guilt for the destruction of the woman they have variously exploited for cheap labour, cheap sex and worse - And then the plot thickens. Written at the end of the second World War and set before the first, An Inspector Calls is a brilliantly compelling and haunting thriller.

Our Review:

10 June 2009

Stephen Daldry’s celebrated production of J. B. Priestley’s An Inspector Calls has transformed what was once an unfashionable rep standby into something urgent, innovative and exciting. It tells the tale of the complacent Birling household on one evening in 1912 when their family gathering is interrupted by the appearance of the enigmatic Inspector Goole and his investigation into the suicide of a young woman. As he begins his enquiries, a series of revelations reveal that they all are in some way implicated in her death, shattering their respectable façade and forcing us all to examine our own consciences.

The extraordinary set design and staging provide a nightmarish metaphorical landscape in which Priestley’s examination of society and responsibility can be played out. The expressionistic, out-of-proportion Birling residence stands on stilts amongst the debris and victims of an England ravaged by World War Two as the two times intersect. Daldry imagines the Inspector as...

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