“Guildhall students are outstanding in this timely and hilarious political satire.”
“The news that a government inspector is on his way throws a small Russian town into chaos, as its corrupt officials scramble to cover their tracks. A simple case of mistaken identity spirals into farce, exposing vanity, hypocrisy and greed in this razor-sharp satire from the grandfather of Ukrainian drama.” (Guildhall website). Gemma Brockis skillfully directs David Harrower’s adaptation of the Government Inspector, originally by Nikolai Gogul. The play stars final year acting students at Guildhall School of Music and Drama who give consistently bold and hilarious performances throughout.
Brockis’ version is gender-swapped, with male characters reimagined as female and vice versa, resulting in all the local officials (and the titular “Inspector”) being women. Gender swapping in theatre is often tricky to get right and can sometimes dilute the impact of a show’s message, but here it was extremely successful! The main political message of this piece is to highlight the corrupt upper-class officials and their self-serving attitudes. This is still effectively done by presenting the people in power as women. In the current cultural and political climate, this play cleverly alludes to the fact that women are also capable of abusing their power for their own gain.
The performances from the final year acting students were undeniably the standout part of the production. The play is led by the Mayor (Meg Bewley), who strides around onstage with the familiar energy of a politician who is convinced they are in control while chaos follows her every move. A fantastically strong performance from Bewley, particularly toward the end of the play when the truth unravels and so does she. Bewley’s Mayor could have stepped straight out of a Home County office during the Conservative Party’s 1990s ‘sleaze’ era, with the perfect physicality and accent to match.
The Mayor’s foil, the supposed “Inspector” (actually named Ivana Khlestakova) is expertly brought to life by Arden Wolfe. The way she morphs her physicality throughout the show is pitch perfect, going from a desperate and starving swindler to an almost comfortable and overconfident fraud. Her determination to rinse the corrupt officials is palpable throughout, driving the plot forward and leaving chaos in her wake.
The Postmistress (Serena Birch) and Husband Alex (Ewan Labram) were other standouts from the ensemble, fully leaning into their comic characters and being reliably hilarious every time they were onstage. The whole cast had fantastic chemistry, bringing the absurd world of this provincial town to life.
One aspect of this production that was confusing was the time period and location this play was set in. The characters clearly lived in Russia and would make references to the Tsar and St Petersburg but were costumed in modern British clothing (e.g. Met police uniform and Stanley cups). Additionally, the characters travel by horse and carriage and send letters, but speak with 21st Century language and accents. This can also be seen in the set design specifically creating a British hotel room with familiar-looking fire safety signs on the door. The mixing of modern and original contexts is clearly intentional (whether by Harrower or Brockis), but it was difficult to fully grasp the meaning behind this choice. Ultimately this doesn’t significantly affect the enjoyment of the show, but it does provide an extra mental hurdle for the audience.
Overall, this was an outstanding production from Guildhall, and the final-year actors 2025-26 did a fantastic job.