Archives - July 2010

AN INSPECTOR CALLS
by J. B. Priestley

Produced by Clare Buckland

THE PLAY

Period drama, set in the Birlings' townhouse in 1912.
Arthur Birling is a wealthy self-made man, running a machining business in ruthlessly capitalist fashion. He and his wife, Sybil, have become pillars of middle-class society, guiding their two children, Eric and Sheila, to certain future: the former, in the family business and the latter as a respectable housewife. They are modestly celebrating the engagement of Sheila to Gerald Croft, the son of one of Birling's business rivals - with Mr Birling holding forth about the need for a man to only look after himself and his family - when Inspector Goole arrives at their door.
To the bafflement and indignation of the Birlings, the Inspector bluntly explains that he is investigating the horrible suicide of a young woman, Eva Smith, whose only apparent connection to them is that she was once employed by Mr Birling. It is not that simple, though, as the Inspector gradually reveals.

His first interrogation forces Mr Birling to reveal that he sacked Eva Smith, two years previously, for striking over pay and conditions. Both Mr Birling and Gerald are convinced that was perfectly fair, appropriate for a free-labour market and the end of the matter, but the Inspector continues. After that, Eva Smith managed to find employment in a local shop, only to be abruptly dismissed when a customer complained about her. That customer, it transpires, was Sheila Birling - in a bad mood and smarting over an imagined insult from the shop worker, she forced the manager to fire her. Sheila is horrified to discover that her thoughtless action had consequences, that it resulted in a penniless Eva Smith being thrown out on to the streets and taking her further down to the path to ruin.

At that point, the Inspector tells them Eva Smith then changed her name, to Daisy Renton, and leaves a clearly shaken Gerald alone with Sheila. Gerald does his best to cover up a guilty secret, but Sheila has already realised the Inspector knows far more he has let on so far and insists on being present to hear how Gerald is involved. In front of the whole family, then, the Inspector forces Gerald to admit that he met Daisy by chance and tried to help her get back on her feet - but in doing so, became too close to her and she ended up as his kept mistress. When that had to end, he cast her adrift with nothing but memories and returned to wooing Sheila. He is also shocked to discover that, for all it gave Daisy some happiness, it was the last happiness she had ever known and the last straw for her attempts to better herself. Distraught, he asks for permission to leave for a while, at which Sheila returns his engagement ring and suggests that they may be able to start over again if he returns.
The Inspector then turns his attention to Mrs Birling, who had seen the dead girl a few weeks previously, in her capacity as chair of a local charity. Now calling herself Mrs Birling, Eva Smith had appealed to the charity for help. The real Mrs Birling took exception to the frivolous appropriation of the family name, and to the girl's confused and tortuous explanations, and refused to grant her any assistance. As the Inspector digs deeper, Mrs Birling is forced to admit that the girl came to her charity because she was pregnant, penniless and desperate, and the father of her baby - who she refused to name - was stealing money to support her.

Indignant to the last, Mrs Birling lays all the blame at the father's door, demanding that he should be shamed and punished as Eva Smith's death is entirely his fault.
Almost triumphantly, then, the Inspector springs the trap, by revealing what Sheila has already guessed - that Eva Smith had become a prostitute and the father was none other than their son, Eric, who has been hiding his drunken womanising from them for years. He then shows Eric how his own mother, by her hard-heartedness, took the girl's last hope away and left her unable to carry on. Her agonising suicide, through drinking industrial disinfectant, not only ended her life but that of Eric's unborn child.

With a cold finality, the Inspector sums up the ways they affected, and ultimately destroyed, another person - demonstrating how they are responsible for so much more than just themselves - and then leaves.

Behind him, arguments erupt. Mr Birling, with his wife's support, is concerned about the scandal and how to keep it quiet while Sheila and Eric both feel guilt for what they have done. Birling attempts to regain his old bluster and brush the entire episode away. Then Gerald returns, with news that the Inspector was not a genuine policeman and produces a sophisticated argument to prove that he probably invented Eva Smith from a composite of several different people and events, as a bluff to somehow hoax the Birlings. He concludes by telephoning the infirmary, to establish that no suicides have been brought in recently. Mr and Mrs Birling are delighted to accept his explanation, worrying only what the purpose of the hoax might be. Neither Eric nor Sheila fully believe it, though, and can see that even if there was no real Eva Smith, everything the Inspector described did happen to somebody and they were just as much responsible for it.
Gerald, with Mr Birling's approval, tries to give Sheila back the engagement ring, but she refuses, uncomfortable with the way he seems to be taking on her father's ruthlessness and indifference to other people.
Just then, the telephone rings and Mr Birling answers, to be told that a young woman has committed suicide and died at the infirmary and that an Inspector is on the way over to ask them some questions...

FROM THE GROUP

For once, it was nice that the reviewer agreed with us over a production. It was nice to know that the hard work, sleepless nights, lack of cast at rehearsals etc was all worth it.
Not withstanding the good review (for which, I am however grateful), I would like to say that I was absolutely thrilled by the performances that the cast gave on all of the three nights.
They kept the pace up, remembered their lines, gave ‘character’ by the bucket load, and all round, it was a joy to watch.
Thanks also to Ken for his sterling work front of house, and to all of the other unsung heroes in the background who allowed my wonderful cast to get out there and do their thing.
To Mike, John, Peter, Mary, Ann, David, John, Pam, Sam, Sue, Clare and Gareth – THANK YOU.

Clare - Producer

I've always had a liking for Priestley. Sometimes he hammers home the socialist/humanist view a little excessively, but it's usually forgivable due to the sheer quality of his work. An Inspector Calls is probably the best-known and most frequently performed, and there is a good reason for that! Every part (except, inevitably, the maid) is strong, hard-hitting and dynamic and the role of the Inspector is, for me, the best and deepest of the lot.

For all that he is a creature of conscience - arguably, in fact, a construct purely of conscience (although there was a version, I believe, in which he actually turned out to be Eva Smith's father trying to establish the truth of his daughter's death) - the Inspector is not the slightest bit sympathetic. He sets out, with a deliberate remorselessness, to break down each of the Birlings in turn and leave them nowhere to hide from each other, or from themselves. It is both a punishment and an opportunity for repentance, levelled with an implacability almost as cruel as the pain the Birlings have inflicted on Eva Smith. That makes it quite a challenge - to convey the message as humanitarian, through a messenger who is absolutely not.

If that all sounds mildly pretentious, it isn't meant to be. It's just that, having lived with the character for quite some while, the layers of contradictions within it are almost as complicated as the plot around it, and just as interesting. Even if, in practical terms, it mostly translates to glaring coldly at people and trying not to be too shouty.

Anyway, regardless of the methods and motivations, it's a great play: I'm very glad Clare chose it, and I was thoroughly impressed by how well it turned out. Kudos to everyone involved, I think.

Mike - Actor

The Production Diary

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