Recently, I ventured to Eastbourne's Congress Theatre to view the latest production of An Inspector Calls – directed by Stephen Daldry - as it returned after a widely popular sellout tour.
From the moment I entered, I could feel anticipation building as the audience found their seats. And it did not disappoint.
An Inspector Calls is a classic morality play written by J.B Priestly in 1945 but it is set in British Edwardian society, 1912.
A morality play is a genre of play most common in the 15 and 16th centuries in which during the play characters teach the audience a valuable moral.
An Inspector Calls focuses on the huge divide in social class and different views around social responsibility at that time.
Priestly explores this through the Birling family, a higher-class household, who receive an abrupt visit from an Inspector.
He accuses their treatment of the lower-class of having resulted in a preventable incident.
We see infantilised Sheila Birling’s transformation through the play as she finally starts to realise the frequent hardships the working class must face.
From a quiet, young girl to a strong, independent figure she really changes her beliefs to uphold her new values on equality and injustices.
Another key character in this play is the Inspector; Priestly places him in the play to call out all the unnoticed immoral acts the Birlings’ commit against the lower-class.
His influential position of power comes across well when he attempts to educate them all on the consequences of their actions and breaks off their selfish counter arguments.
This play is supposed to reflect the society at the time.
The production was just under 2 hours and with no interval, suspense was well built up right until the end.
Did the play live up to expectations?
Yes, from an almost immersive, well thought out set, to the actors’ clear knowledge of their characters, this play hit high standards.
The audience could really visualise the actual class splits through the juxtaposing costumes of the higher class and working class characters.
The main focus of the set was The Birlings’ large - almost menacing - house that towered over the stage throughout the play. During one scene, it lurches forward as the Birlings’ hit their downfall, really captivating your attention.
Overall, this production was extremely entertaining and certainly allowed you to think about the prejudices some people still hold to this day.
