It was not just the morals and hidden meanings which made it such a successful production but the actors themselves contributed significantly. I watched “An Inspector Calls” in Stoke-on-Trent at the Regent Theatre and thought the actors all played their role excellently and fitted their characters perfectly. Stephen Dauldry, the director, presented the audience with a fascinating study of guilt and innocence and of prejudice and hypocrisy. The sharply-defined characters of the members of the Birling’s family and of Gerald Croft, the mysterious and puzzling figure of Inspector Goole and the shadowy figure in the background of Eva Smith never fail to engage the attention of theatre audience. To me, those add to the whole production. Also, the idea that a 21st Century audience was sitting in a recently renovated, modernised theatre, watching a 1945 play set in 1912 made me think how clever the Director was.
The Inspector’s character (played by Nicholas Day) was acted fantastically and is another reason why this play is my favourite. His character was one minute menacing and the next quiet enhancing the whole play. His role in the play was not simply to confront each character with the truth, but to force each character to admit the truth they already knew. He worked methodically through the characters one at a time. He arrived just after Mr Birling has been setting out his views of life: that every man must only look out for himself. The Inspector's purpose in the play was to show that this is not the case. Throughout the play he demonstrated how people are responsible for how they affect the lives of others; his views are summed up in his visionary and dramatic final speech: that 'we are members of one body. We are responsible for each other'. Responsibility is one of the play's two key themes, and the Inspector is Priestley's vehicle for putting across his own views of this as a socialist. In this final speech, he is spoke as much to the audience as to the characters on stage. His words here were a warning to an audience in 1945 not to repeat the selfish mistakes that led to the two World Wars and the years between them. The inspector’s costume was much different to the rest of the Cast as he was made to convey the future, dressed in 1945 clothing.
“An inspector calls” at Stoke-on-Trent relies heavily on visuals to create the atmosphere Stephen Dauldry wanted. The set design was fantastic as it was very complex yet had hidden symbolism. I particularly enjoyed the first scene. The modern stage was decked out with a fake proscenium arch stage and its curtains rose to reveal a forties soundstage. As soon as the curtains rose, and the Birling’s house was seen, I could tell it was going to be a fabulous production. The director had taken time to think that about the out of proportioned lamppost and the distaughted telephone box, two of which I did not notice until the middle of the play. I especially thought the Birling’s house was startling. After seeing it for the first time I felt Goosebumps up my arms. It was precariously balanced on stilts, almost as if it was so unstable it would take only a small disruption to make it fall over. The lighting on stage was very gloomy adding to the surreal atmosphere. I was expecting to see a naturalistic play yet what I was faced with was an expressionistic set which added to the excitement. I thought the play was influenced by film, especially film noir and noticed the music coming out of the radio at the beginning was from Alfred Hitchcock’s film “Vertigo”. I especially enjoyed the final scene where the Birling’s house falls apart, just like the family. I thought that was extremely effective.
Another aspect of the play which enhanced my enjoyment was the costumes. These also had hidden meanings and showed the Birling’s class and status. The Inspector was dressed much differently in 1945 and also the characters at the end were dressed in a variety of time periods. The Birling’s and Gerald Croft’s costume were all symbolic and showed the characters age, status and the period. In one particular scene where the Inspector is interrogating the family about the death of Eva Smith, he began to remove items of clothing starting with his hat and finishing with his waistcoat. After the play had finished, I learnt that as the inspector removed a layer of clothing he also removed a layer of the family, showing the Birling’s in their true form.
The sound effects were also extraordinary and were used to convey the period (sirens), mood and atmosphere and something about the characters. I thought the music in the play conveyed the serious and ominous mood which increased my satisfaction.
The lighting also added to the eerie atmosphere of the play. I thought the contrast of bright lights in the Birling’s house with the dark lights outside worked well. The side lights lit the characters very brightly but still kept the dark foreboding atmosphere which enhanced the whole interrogation style of the piece. For me, it particularly enhanced the Inspector’s first entrance and created a characteristic “film noir” and contrasted with the warm gas lights in the house. When the Inspector wore his trench coat and his trilby hat the side lighting cast his shadow across the whole set, particularly the Birling’s house. I thought it had conjured up associations with 1940’s cinema. When he shouted ”Stop” a floodlight came on and it felt as if a search light had been switched on and we, as an audience were being inspected. This speech was the most important of the play and the lighting effect combined with the actor’s direct address to the audience enhanced the playwright’s and the director’s main message. I also thought it was effective how Nicholas Day (Inspector) spoke in his own voice and not the characters making it clear these were the author’s words and not the characters.
Overall “An Inspector Calls” is my all time favourite play as it made you think about it when you left the theatre. It made you think about the messages Priestly and Dauldry were trying to convey and how they did. It personally made me think about life and whether I have fulfilled my social responsible and looked out for others. It made me want to look out for people just like the inspector said.
“One Eva Smith has gone- but there are millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths still left with us…we don’t live alone. We are members of one body”.