"An Inspector Calls"

July 19, 2018 — The Peterborough Players in Peterborough, New Hampshire, is presenting J. B. Priestley's most famous play, "An Inspector Calls." Many are familiar with this play, but I had never seen it, nor did I have any knowledge of the plot, staged so many times since it was written in 1944-45.

Priestley set his play in 1912 when he was a teenager. Before the outbreak of World War I, many believed the world would see no more wars. In the beginning of Act I, bombastic Arthur Birling (Jack Koenig), presides over a happy celebration of the engagement of his daughter, Sheila (Rebecca Brinkley) to Gerald Croft (Marc LeVasseur), son of a business rival of Arthur's. The men are in black tie and tails and the women in their finest attire, magnificently designed by Anthony Paul-Cavaretta, gathered in a fine drawing room designed by Charlie Morgan and Gus Kaikkonen, all very British.

Priestley's intention may have been to illustrate how dangerously wrong we can be when predicting the future with the words he put in Arthur's mouth. Arthur reassures the gathering the forecasts of war are being spread by fear-mongers. Germany really doesn't want war, the great inventions of the early 20th Century will assure prosperity for all time. Why, just look at the automobile and aeroplane, and England has built a huge passenger liner that can take you from London to New York in five days, and it's unsinkable! Arthur's wife, Sybil (Dee Nelson, excellent as always) and Gerald back him up. The Birlings' youngest, a son, Eric (Alex Carr) is unimpressed.

This joyful occasion is interrupted when the maid, Edna (Anna Rock) announces a visitor who identifies himself as a police inspector. Upon entry, the inspector, Goole (Gus Kaikkonen) informs the group a young woman has died, in pain and agony, at the infirmary after drinking disinfectant in an apparent suicide. Everyone is properly horrified over the death of this poor girl, but what could it possibly have to do with them?

The rest of the play holds the audience transfixed as the inspector's relentless questioning of everyone present, one at a time, in a sort of Agatha Christie style, gradually breaks down and divides the family. Happiness is turned to acrimony and loving relationships are torn asunder. Oh, but there are still a few good laugh lines. Direction by Keith Stevens and fine performances by all the actors keep the audience engrossed as the play moves to its unpredictable finish.