The Government Inspector

As somebody hoping to go into the theatre, I have been lately thinking about the challenges and opportunities of staging a play: namely Nikolai Gogol's 'Government Inspector'. I decided to write a rationale, describing my choices in staging and design in this masterpiece of Russian dramaturgy:

The Government Inspector - design concept

In my production of The Government Inspector by Nikolai Gogol, I would set the play in modern day Russia, in an attempt to demonstrate that despite the overthrowing of the Russian empire and then the Soviet Union, corruption is still the largest issue facing the Russian Federation, the largest nation in the world. Originally staged in the Alexandrinsky theatre in St Petersburg on a proscenium arch stage, I would remain with this stage type, for the reasons that the play was probably written for this type of stage and is therefore better suited to it, and that it would better befit my style of performance, which would be naturalistic.

The set for the room in the mayor's house takes inspiration from the skyscrapers of Moscow, with all three walls being opaque glass, each side having a narrow wall of oak set in the centre, those walls stage left and right having large doors in them, the wall upstage having a large elevator. The frequent ping of the elevator as each new character arrives will remind the audience of the scenes' chaos. Above the elevator upstage is positioned a large portrait of the mayor, who is made up to look much like Vladimir Putin, to further the image of corruption in small towns being a microcosm of the whole state of Russia. The floors are of opaque glass, and centre stage is a large round oak table, around which chairs are placed in a semi-circle upstage, meaning no individual's seat is obscured by a chair downstage. The oak displays the disproportionate wealth of the mayoral office, which will be contrasted in the set for the the inn. For this set, old, stained red wallpaper will be rolled down over the walls, a tattered brown carpet across the floor, the elevator doors will be covered, and a low energy lightbulb will be lowered to seven feet above the bed, to create the illusion of the room being small. The glass table and chairs are removed and replaced with a large double bed, which is lower down on the left side as it is broken, with a plywood side table with peeling white paint. A mirror is positioned above the bed, but at a cheated, downward angle. This way, Osip can perform his opening soliloquy lying back on the bed, introspectively, but the audience can see him via the mirror above. Characters in this scene will enter up stairs from the door stage left.

The play would open in the morning, before dawn, displayed by a dim light to emulate dusk, and all the characters would appear visibly tired, some still putting on suit jackets and ties. This is because the mayor has called an emergency meeting, the night time setting adding to the idea of the government of the town being underhand, dealing with things they do not want the public to be aware of. Twilight will start to dawn as the officials begin to move on their way, culminating in the beginning of dawn as Anna shouts out of the window, displayed by a warm orange light appearing stage left, which continues directly into the next scene, with the sun rising during Osip's soliloquy, meaning that by Khlestakov's entrance, the sun has risen. This will be marked by an intensification of the light, and the orange glow changing to yellow, then to white. As Khlestakov makes his departure in the final act, and the loose ends are being tied up, the sun will start to set, marking the beginning of the evening twilight. This will be achieved via a reversal of the technique used to portray sunrise, except the light will be stage right instead. Dusk falls as the characters learn Khlestakov's true identity and that the real inspector is present, and light returns to the exact level as at the beginning as the final tableau is formed. This darkening is, again, merely a reversal of the dawn lighting sequence.

The tone of my production would be quite dark, in order to make the play didactic in nature. This would not be portrayed through sound, of which there is little, save the ping of the elevator, and a loud, deep, thumping sound as the characters arrange themselves into the final tableau, but through the depiction of all of the characters as fickle. The only departure from a naturalistic style would be the wearing of comedia dell'arte masks when a character is putting on a front, such as when Khlestakov pretends to be the inspector, when the mayor pretends not to know the the thinks Khlestakov is the inspector, or even just when one character lies to another, such as when the individual town officials beseech Khlestakov in act IV. I would change the plot in only one respect: the postmaster being a police spy. This would be made evident through his wearing of a mask throughout the play, and also an inserted dialogue between the officials leaving the mayor's room in act I and Anna and Marya entering, in which he makes a phone call, confirming that the mayor is falsely convinced that the inspector is staying at the inn.

As for costume, the dress would be modern suits for the part of the officials. The mayor would be cast, made up and dressed to look like Vladimir Putin. Aside from the obvious connotation of corruption, this would add to the image of the mayor of being sly and arrogant. This concept would involve a black suit, white shirt and red tie. The superintendent of schools would be dressed in the same suit and die, but with a striped shirt, mainly to differentiate whilst portraying them as similar. This sycophant is positioned always on the right hand side of the mayor and is the obvious successor, adding to the idea that nothing will ever change as the implicit line of succession is made up of the same corrupt officials. The judge wears the same suit, the same shirt as the mayor, and a silver tie. He wears them in an untidy manner, however, shirt untucked, collar up, lapels turned over, tie loose, a button on the shirt undone, and his hair ruffled. He is therefore presented as someone disorganised and, therefore, seemingly incapable of making decisions in court, and explaining his odd, haphazard dealings in bribery and geese keeping. The charities warden would be a woman, which would make her harsh stance on the welfare of patience even more shocking, and she would have blonde, shoulder-length hair, a pure blue coat and dress and a fashionable flowery scarf. The postmaster would wear a white shirt, but a dark blue suit, to ever so slightly differentiate him from the others, and a lilac tie to give him a deceptive friendliness. His hair would be close cropped, making him harder to read as an individual. Bobchinsky and Dobchinsky would be dressed in the same suit, except Bobchinsky's would be jet black, and Dobchinsky's would be bright white, both with their hair slicked back, dark. This would act as a method of parallel characterisation. Anna would wear a very pale pink jacket, have heavy glasses attached round her neck by a cord, and be slightly overweight, her hair dark, shoulder-length and unkempt. She appears as a woman past her prime, attempting to look proper but always seeking to be the most respected figure by all. Marya is a beautiful, tall, blonde young woman, who wears a revealing black dress, and a leopard print coat over the top, and tall black boots. She is quite obviously prettier than her mother, meaning their competing over attractiveness is not really a competition, but Anna deluding herself. Osip is dressed like a butler, with a starched shirt and a stiff detachable collar, with tie, waistcoat and tails. He is, however, in his seventies, and is most of the tasks given to him by Khlestakov are far too strenuous for a man of his age. This shows Khlestakov up as ungentlemanly, allowing such an old man to do work which would be easy for a twenty-three year old such as himself. Gibner the physician would wear, again, a black suit, a white shirt, and a red and blue striped tie, differentiating him slightly from the others, as a German. Despite his position as a doctor, his wearing a suit proves him to be more of a pen pusher, like the rest of the officials. None of them do any actual hands-on work in their sectors, showing them up as bureaucratic, making their corruption all the more distasteful. Svistunov an Dherzimorda the constables would wear standard Russian police dress, thick black coats and ushankas with police badges on the front. Svistunov would carry a whistle round his neck, which he would blow frequently whenever he is ordered to do something. He is of an average size, whereas Dherzimorda is a much larger, more intimidating character, to characterise the police force as brawny. Khlestakov, cast as a twenty-three year old, with long, dark hair and a beard, starts the play wearing a grey striped suit, which, whilst respectable, is clearly a little old. However, upon his reemergence in act three he wears a long, red and blue dressing gown, his hair newly washed, depicting him as a quasi-Jesus figure. This mocks the way in which the officials spend the last two acts seeking redemption, whilst in fact he is only a conman.