An Inspector Calls, UK Tour Review (2024)

Reviews

3 Oct

An Inspector Calls 2024. Photo by Mark Douet

Reviewed by Stacy for Theatre and Tonic

Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review

B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls remains a gripping, socially conscious play that resonates profoundly in today’s world. On its latest UK tour, making a stop this week at the Darlington Hippodrome, the production revisits the 1945 classic, offering an intense, cinematic experience that underscores its enduring relevance.

Stephen Daldry’s version reinvents the Edwardian drama through a highly stylised, almost Brechtian lens. The set design by Ian MacNeil is a haunting masterpiece: the Birling family's wealthy home is portrayed as a towering, fragile dollhouse. As the Inspector arrives and peels back layers of deception, the house literally cracks open, spilling its contents into the bleak and rain-soaked streets below. This transformation visually captures the moral collapse of the Birling family, mirroring the play’s themes of social responsibility and class inequality. Rick Fisher’s atmospheric lighting contributes to creating an ominous, almost dreamlike quality, while Stephen Warbeck’s haunting score underscores the tension and emotional depth of the narrative. Together they create an almost film like quality to the unfolding drama.

Tim Treloar, who plays the enigmatic Inspector Goole, commands the stage with an intense, charismatic and at times playful presence. His delivery is sharp, and he brings a sense of determined authority that holds both the characters and the audience in suspense. Brennan’s Inspector brings higher energy than some previous chilling portrayals, creating a goading and explosive power to the embodiment of Priestley’s moral conscience.

As for the Birling family, each actor brings complexity to their roles. Jackie Morrison as Sybil Birling captures the aloofness and superiority of the upper classes with poised precision, while Jeffrey Harmer’s portrayal of Arthur Birling is pompous, but with subtle hints of insecurity that reduces his character to almost human in nature. Leona Allen, as Sheila Birling, delivers a particularly memorable performance, transitioning from naïve, girlish and shallow to someone deeply shaken by the Inspector’s revelations. She offers a vulnerable yet determined portrayal of a woman awakening to her family’s complicity in a wider social injustice with a resolve to modify her ways.

The production’s pacing is tight and the emotional weight and ethical dilemmas Priestley weaves throughout the story remain its core, but Daldry’s approach amps up the tension to almost thriller-like proportions. This is a darker and more urgent version of An Inspector Calls, perfectly tuned to speak to contemporary audiences. Priestley’s message—that society is interconnected and that the actions of the privileged have far-reaching consequences—is given renewed urgency in this staging. The collapse of the Birling home serves as a stark reminder that societal structures, if built on exploitation, are fragile and bound to fall.

This UK tour of An Inspector Calls successfully reintroduces a modern audience to a classic play, proving that Priestley's themes of class, responsibility, and morality are just as pressing today as they were when the play was written. It’s a visually stunning, thought-provoking production that leaves its audience questioning their own role in the world’s inequities.