How would you direct An Inspector Calls to ensure that it is still relevant today?

Authors Avatar

How would you direct An Inspector Calls to ensure that it is still relevant today?

J.B Priestly wrote An Inspector Calls in 1945, but he set it in the year of 1912, and throughout the play there are several prominent ideas. Over the years, the way in which Priestly has presented these thoughts, while still relevant, may not be as effective as they were several decades ago. As time has changed, so has the way in which society views them - even if the ideas are identical. So how would the play be directed in order to make it relevant to current times?

The main theme must be identified at the outset to first be able to update the play so that is still relevant. Priestly has deliberately set his play in 1912 to emphasise on the differences and his themes between the society at that present time (1945), and in the past. The consequences of the events in those 33 years led to huge changes in society. For example, in 1912 the class and gender boundaries ensured that things wouldn’t change, but the event of two world wars caused a large upheaval to society, breaking down the class boundaries, and for women to gain a more valued place in society. This means that the new setting must still be able to foreshadow future events that will take place, to keep the sense of dramatic irony. For example, Priestly writes

Birling: The world’s developing so fast that it’ll make war impossible…..Why, a friend of mine went over this new liner last week – The Titanic – she sails next week….and unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable.

Join now!

The setting of this play is before world war one and two, and also the sinking of the Titanic, thus showing Birling foreshadowing future events, and adding to the dramatic irony.

The main theme that is central to the play is responsibility, for example, who was accountable for Eva Smith’s death? Priestly uses the inspector to blame not one sole individual for her death, but for everyone as a group. The inspector addresses the family,

Each of you helped to kill her

This reflects Priestley’s own views, that everyone is responsible for one another ...

This is a preview of the whole essay

Here's what a teacher thought of this essay

Avatar

This question is quite tricky to answer and needs to be planned before writing. The answer needs to show detailed understanding of the themes and characters in the original, and exactly how those themes will be conveyed and how it is updated and what the effect would be on the play. The attention to the setting and staging is good, but not sufficiently developed or linked closely enough to the plot of the modern adaptation.