By Kia Wynne
“The Government Inspector” premiered on Feb. 23 and 24 at 7:30 p.m. on the GPAC main stage. The show is meant to be seen as a comedy. As you enter the auditorium, you are greeted with a raffle ticket and a pamphlet of the show.
The director of the show is Johnathan Drahos, who has produced and directed many plays over the years. The budget of the play was $6,000 in total.
“I thought it was a great farcical comedy that we could do that had a contemporary adaptation of a classical piece. So it’s both fun and educational,” Drahos said.
The play is about the residents of a corrupt town that gets rattled by the news of a government inspector coming to town. Throughout the play, the townspeople think that they know who the inspector is and try to control the narrative, which results in hilarious circumstances.
The play was written by Nikolai Gogol and was later adapted into a play by Jeffery Hatcher. The play takes place in Brunswick, Russia.
“I was very into everything that was happening, very mesmerized and could not keep my eyes off of it at all,” Kyle Alderson, Junior said.
The stage had red, blue, and white balloons as the clowns; Bobchinsky, who is played by Kayla Larraga Ruiz, and Dobchinsky, who is played by Wynona Oxendine, opened the play with laughter.
“Bobchinsky is a little bit of a sinister clown so I do relate to him a lot,” Ruiz said.
The mayor, played by Britney Chambers-Brown, received a letter from the postmaster, played by Kadarius Johnson, about the government inspector arriving in the town.
“To me, it was a really fun process and it took a lot of effort and energy to put into the show, just to make it a great show,” Johnson said.
The inspector comes from St. Petersburg and is supposedly at the inn according to the clowns. The inspector has been there for a week which led the town to go crazy and see for themselves. It is later revealed that the postmaster knew about the inspector’s arrival for a month and didn’t bother to tell the mayor about it. Hlestakov’s servant Osip, who is played by Marquis Crosland, has stopped Hlestakov from killing himself while he questions if there is a meaning to life. While he is discussing his life in St. Petersburg, Hlestakov hears sirens and suspects that the cops are coming to arrest him.
“Drahos told me to make it better. Pretend there was no separation, Osip is me and I am Osip,” Crosland said.
When the mayor arrives at the inn with the town, they discover Hlestakov, who is played by Mac McGill and suspects him to be the inspector for most of the play. McGill received the role to replace the original lead and did eight rehearsals to put the show up.
“I think a real actor is never satisfied with their performance ultimately because if you think you’re doing it right, you’re probably doing it wrong,” McGill said.
The mayor, thinking that he is the inspector, lets him stay at his house for the night. The clowns go to the mayor’s house to speak to Anna Andreyevna, who is played by Cameron Holder, about the inspector’s arrival at her house. Osip arrives at the house to get the guest room ready for Hlestakov’s arrival. When Hlestakov arrives, he meets the people of the house and a dance break emerges.
After the dance break is over, Hlestakov goes up to his room which allows for the townspeople to talk about him being the inspector. When Hlestakov comes back down, the mayor gives him some wine and they begin to toast to the Tsar, Tsarina, and the Tsar’s father. The maid, who is played by Shandi Tilson, brings out the vodka while the rest of the town cheers for Russia.
There is a 15-minute intermission after Hlestakov and the rest of the town pass out from the drinking.
As the next act begins, the mayor’s wife gets told by Osip about Hlestakov being rich and how it is to serve him. The mayor bribes Osip to get any information on Hlestakov. When Hlestakov wakes up, he talks to Osip about how he wants to try to get with the mayor’s daughter and wife. Hlestakov writes down his thoughts about the townspeople while Osip gets his bags ready for them to leave without the town finding out the truth.
Osip bet with Hlestakov that he couldn’t get the mayor’s wife and daughter to have sex with him. Before Hlestakov could get started on getting the mayor’s wife and daughter, he meets with an angry mob of townspeople about the mayor and issues that they have with him which could send him to Siberia. Hlestakov sends Osip to give his letter to a journalist and then talks to Marya Antonova, who is played by Chelsea Marie. Marya requests that Hlestakov come up with a poem about her with her name in it.
Hlestakov gives her the poem in different styles of music with backup dancers to help him out.
The two later agree to meet at the church until they are disrupted by Marya’s mother who sends Marya away to seduce Hlestakov. Anna kisses Hlestakov and agrees to meet with him behind the inn.
The mayor comes back to complain about the townspeople and how they have told him that he may be sent away. Hlestakov uses this moment to ask for Marya’s hand in marriage and to tell the mayor that he’s going to be the governor-general.
Hlestakov leaves with Osip and tells the mayor’s family that he will be back in two days. The mayor uses the title that he received from Hlestakov against the townspeople and threatens to send them to jail due to them going over his head to Hlestakov.
The postmaster comes back to tell the townspeople that Hlestakov is not the government inspector. The letter that Hlestakov wrote gets read aloud by the postmaster and some of the townspeople. The mayor later demands for the return of Hlestakov but since he gave him his fastest horses, they will not be able to catch him. The maid reveals that she knew the truth about him the entire time.
While the townspeople continue to argue with each other, the imperial messenger, who is played by James Frazier, arrives in town and the real inspector is revealed and has been there for 3 months.
The cast bows down as the play concludes.
The play will be making its debut in New York at the American Theatre of Actors Cullum Theater on March 8th and 9th at 7:30 p.m.
The next play is “Pippin: The Musical” by Steven Schwartz in April 2024 and has already been cast.