We only hear about Eva Smith/Daisy Renton in this version when the Inspector questions each character. This interrogation causes a whole story to unfold about her character but we never actually meet her in person. In spite of not meeting her, we still feel quite sorry for her as we hear what happened.
In the 1954 film version, once again we are in the dining room. I think that we as the audience feel more a part of the family than we do in the original version as the camera shot is at eye-level with the other characters. This makes us, the audience, feel like we are sitting at the table and are part of the party. Again we develop an emotional attachment to the characters at first so it comes as even more of a shock when the Inspector arrives and ruins the evening.
A major difference between this version and the original is that we actually meet Eva/Daisy. When the Inspector is questioning the family, we see a re-enactment of when they met Eva/Daisy. These flashbacks mean that we become even more sympathetic and emotionally attached to her character as she has a face, which we can relate to. We feel more sorry for her in this version than we did when we were just hearing about her.
The last production I looked at was the 1992 Royal National Theatre production. In this production, the audience is outside the Birlings’ house to start with. The house is set away at the back of the stage, quite high up and appears to be quite ‘spooky’. This means the audience are looking up to the house and it makes it seem bigger, more detached yet more dominating. This also makes it seem more threatening to us and the audience get a feeling of foreboding.
The Inspector is the first person we see properly and we start to develop a subconscious attachment to him. We only start to see the Birling characters when the Inspector calls them out to question them individually. This means that, unlike in
other versions, we don’t see the Birlings first and don’t automatically feel a part of the family. In fact, in this version, we are totally shut out of the house. We are complete outsiders together with the Inspector. He (the Inspector) literally forces the characters to reveal their secrets. This means that slowly, the house is opened and you get the impression that the family are without the cosy security blanket that is their house and left in the open with their secrets in the public eye. The Birlings’ are literally dragged out into the spotlight and their private lives are slowly unpicked and publicly displayed. This humiliates them in front of their family and the audience.
In this production, there is one similarity with the first, original version. The way Eva/Daisy is portrayed is common to both, you never actually see her, you just hear about her through other characters’ confessions.
All three different productions use different prop positions and acting methods. The original and the 1954 film version are quite similar as they use the same ways to get you to relate to the family but the 1954 version is much more successful in gaining sympathy for Eva/Daisy as you actually meet her character. The 1992 play is quite different to the others in all ways apart from that the story of Eva is still only described to us and we don’t meet her.
I think that the 1954 version is the most effective as it makes much more use of location, light and cast position because it is a film. I also think this version makes more use of the Eva/Daisy character and exaggerates the quite spooky, mysterious Inspector.