The Government Inspector

The Government Inspector is a now classic play about the farcical goings-on in a bureaucracy steeped in corruption and self-interest, and determined to present a false front to the world. No, it's not about Trump...although it could easily be so. The plot is about corrupt officials of a small Russian town (Russia?...Are you sure it's not about Trump!), headed by the Mayor, react with terror to the news that an incognito inspector will soon be arriving in their town to investigate them. The flurry of activity to cover up their considerable misdeeds is interrupted by the report that a suspicious person has arrived two weeks previously from St Petersburg and is staying at the inn. That person, however, is not - well, I can't say and still preserve the plot, but you get the idea. There's this foppish civil servant with a wild imagination who sort of confounds everyone. There is a very large cast in this performance which could be considered difficult to present in the small TRP arena, but everyone effortlessly moves into and out of their roles very smoothly. A traveling band of minstrels is a wonderful thread that runs throughout. David Dubin (as the Mayor) and Andrew Newman (as the itinerant government worker) work very well to lead this cast.