Live and in person at St. Jacobs Country Playhouse, St. Jacobs, Ont. Produced by Drayton Entertainment. Playing until Oct. 27, 2024.
Written by J. B. Priestley
Directed by Mike Shara
Set by Douglas Paraschuk
Costumes by Sean Mulcahy
Lighting by Kevin Fraser
Cast: Neil Barclay
Amos Crawley
Tyrell Crews
Tracey Ferencz
Roy Lewis
Hadley Mustakas
Caroline Taol
A good production of a play that speaks to today strangely enough.
The Story. The story takes place in 1912 in the Brumley, an industrial town in the North Midlands. Arthur and Sybil Birling are having a festive evening to celebrate the engagement of their daughter Sheila to Gerald Croft. Arthur Birling and Gerald Croft’s father own rival companies and this will join the two families. Both families are upper crust and flaunt it. They have little regard for the lower classes.
Then Inspector Goole arrives from the police station to say that a young woman was brought to the morgue that afternoon having taken her own life by drinking disinfectant and burned her insides out. The Inspector is there to question the family: Mr. and Mrs. Birling, Sheila Birling, her brother Eric Birling and Gerald Croft. Every person who is questioned knew the woman in some capacity and treated her badly. The Inspector feels they are all complicit in her death.
The Production. At the beginning of the production Edna (Hadley Mustakas) the maid sits in a chair (her back is to us), she is smoking leisurely. The order of the house is fixed and strict. She is on duty and should be at the ready. Here she is leisurely smoking and when she hears the family coming into the drawing room after dinner, she goes into ‘servant’ mode. She gets rid of the cigarette and stands at attention.
There is a tiny indication that Mr. Birling (Neil Barclay) might have designs on he—he makes a small step towards her when they are alone—she flinches in reaction. I thought that was an interesting directorial touch.
The family formally dresses for dinner for this occasion (kudos to designer, Sean Mulcahy). The set of the drawing room by Douglas Paraschuk is richly furnished in red plush padded chairs; gleaming tables and dark wooded drawing room pieces. The men drink port and smoke cigars.
When Inspector Goole (Roy Lewis) arrives he is aware of the efforts by Mr. Birling to be indignant that his respectable family would be implicated in this grizzly suicide. He’s aware of the condescending efforts of Neil Barclay as Mr. Birling and Tracey Ferencz as Mrs. Birling noses towards anyone they feel is inadequate or beneath them. Amos Crawley as Eric Birling is nervous, desperate to be invisible and angry at being thought to be inadequate. Tyrell Crews as Gerald Croft is more composed than the others, but still with that arrogant attitude. Caroline Toal as Sheila Birling, holds her own—she too is nervous plus indignant and guilty because of what she might have done regarding the young woman who took her own life. Roy Lewis as the Inspector is poised, calm, watchful, unflappable and capable of drawing these characters out only to make them confess and aware of their complicity. Through the Inspector we hear how each member of the Birling household and Mr. Croft treated the dead woman. But we see for ourselves how they treat the Inspector. In both cases it’s with disdain for anyone they feel is beneath them. That damned class system at work. J.B. Priestley is making his point.
It’s always intriguing seeing a gifted artist branch into different areas of the art form. In this case Mike Shara, who has done wonderful work as an actor at Stratford and other theatres across the country, is spreading his creative wings and is exploring directing. An Inspector Calls at the St. Jacobs Country Playhouse is his first foray into directing. He is a careful director with respect for the text. There is nothing flashy about his work that pulls focus from the play. He does inject some interesting, perceptive moments that are telling about the play, the times and the social order. He’s added that business at the beginning when Edna (Hadley Mustakas) is sitting in a chair, smoking for a relaxing moment, and the small business where Mr. Birling might have designs on Edna and she is wary. Later Edna will do something that will indicate her disgust with the behaviour of the Birlings which also is interesting. Mike Shara stages actors to stand at the corners of the room, suggesting they are filling the room. This only makes it seem as if the characters are too far from each other to comfortably engage. With more directing experience this issue will be resolved—stage the actors closer to each other to establish their relationships.
Playwright J.B. Priestley has a stage direction for Mr. Birling in An Inspector Calls regarding the appearance of the Inspector. It’s suggested that Mr. Birling describe the appearance of the actor playing the Inspector. Here he is described as ‘clean-shaven’ and ‘swarthy.’ Roy Lewis, who plays the Inspector, is Black and that adds so many other layers to the character in this context. Meaningful casting. Good production. Timely play.
Comment. J.B. Priestley wrote this in 1945 and was keenly aware of the class system that pervaded Britain right up to today, and the damage it does. He gives this remarkable speech to the Inspector when all is sort of revealed: “We don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other. And I tell you that the time will soon come when, if men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish.” That speech is as timely and perceptive now as it was then. Alas.
Drayton Entertainment presents:
Plays until Oct. 27 2024.
Running time: 2 hours approx. (1 intermssion)