An Inspector Calls – Darlington Hippodrome

Writer: J B Priestley

Director: Stephen Daldry

One of the many words that could describe Stephen Daldry’s startling interpretation of J B Priestley’s An Inspector Calls is cinematic. It is certainly a lot more cinematic than the 1954 film version which, with all due respect to Alistair Sim and everyone else involved, now seems rather creaky and dull. Daldry took the material, a simple but effective morality piece with added layers, and presented it in a bold way that still feels immediate and modern over thirty years after it debuted. It is rare for a play to exist as one definitive production for over three decades and it is not surprising that Daldry is credited with rescuing Priestley’s works from potential obsolescence.

Priestley’s play presents the audience with a jovial but arrogant upper-class family celebrating the engagement of their daughter. All is well in their gilt-edged bubble until Inspector Goole arrives and slowly unravels a sordid story of callous selfishness and careless disregard for others that implicates all of the family and uncovers some major cracks on what initially seems a pristine veneer.

The cast are superb. Tim Treloar brings a lot of vitality and passion to Inspector Goole: a definite shock if all you know is Sim’s lugubrious portrayal in the film. This Inspector has fire in his belly, and sets out the actions (or inactions) of the Birling family with impressive vehemence, while also showing a gentler, more measured side when required. Jeffrey Harmer and Jackie Morrison as the patriarch and matriarch of the Birling family wonderfully display the reluctance of the older generation to accept responsibility or admit fault, while Leone Allen and George Rowlands as their children Sheila and Eric nicely represent the hope that the younger generation can be taught to care and show compassion. Both Allen and Rowlands are excellent at showing subtle signs of growing maturity as the plot unfolds, so that both are completely different characters by the final curtain. Sitting in the middle of this is Tom Chapman as Gerald, Sheila’s fiancé, another measured performance that perfectly balances the character’s remorse with the need to absolve themselves of their responsibilities.

With the foundation of the story being built on the divide between the “haves” and “have-nots”, this production creates this rift brilliantly with the impressive set: a beautiful Edwardian house towering over a broken-cobble street. The upper class initially remain in their ivory tower, but as Goole chips away at their false moralities, they begin to descend down to the same level as everyone else, until they are finally at rock bottom. Ian MacNeil’s set is amazing, a full house façade that opens like a doll’s house to reveal the luxury within, and towering over a murky exterior with only a small iron staircase to connect them. The initial reveal of the set is breath-taking and immediately captures one’s attention: the silhouette of the building appearing slowly through banks of thick fog and pouring rain, accompanied by the swell of Stephen Warbeck’s dramatic music and Rick Fisher’s atmospheric lighting: it doesn’t get more cinematic than this.

Priestley’s points are well made but far from subtle, and Daldry’s direction threatens to over-egg the pudding at times including a couple of unnecessary fourth-wall breaking moments, and a major set piece towards the end which is extremely impressive but perhaps a little too on-the-nose. However, as this piece is currently studied in UK schools, and much of its audience is made up of young students, this can be forgiven, particularly since this, for many of them, will be the first play they see. Hopefully An Inspector Calls leads at least a few of them back to a theatre for more, even if almost anything after this will pale in comparison.

Runs until 5th October 2024