Gogol play was farcical romp

After The Style of Clifford Williams. Miss Nola Millar has aimed at revitalising the stock favourite, Gogol's The Government Inspector by presenting it as a farcical romp. A comedy of error. The Government Inspector is basically light social satire and seems less adaptable than its Shakespearean precursor to the imposition of a stylised production. The intent of Nola Millar's production is clear but though it is interesting to see the Gogol classic experimentally restyled, the play does not fit easily into the new mould.

The carefree buoyancy of acting needed for the success of slick farce is deceptively difficult to attain, and the effort of the actors in this Wellington Repertory production was more apparent than their success. Though the caricature roles, such as Dobchinsky and Bobchinsky played by Mark Adams and Silvio Famularo, adapted more easily to the production scheme, only Raymond Boyce as the School Superintendent slipped completely into his farcical role while miraculously remaining in touch with the reality of satire present in the play. Ray Henwood as Ivan Alexandrovitch Hlestakov, the false inspector, gave an assured performance, but as the most realistically written and "straight" character the producer's scheme did not allow him to explore the subtleties of the part.

The set, designed by Peter Coates was delightfully madcap though it appeared to unnecessarily restrict the size of the stagc.-C.M.G.