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   Review: An Inspector Calls - The Lyric Theatre at The Lowry
By our theatre critic Paul Lemon
I must be a philistine as quite frankly I knew nothing whatsoever about this play before going tonight. I had a quick shufty on the internet before I left for the theatre and discovered it was written by JB Priestly and that this production was originally performed at the National Theatre and has won 19 major awards around the world. So I was quite excited when a loud siren announced the start of the play and the house lights dimmed and went out. From then on,for two whole hours, I sat entranced (note that there is no interval so make sure that you ‘go’ before you take your seat). The set was amazing. There was an entire house dominating centre stage. However it was not to scale as the actors had to duck to get in and out of the front door. It was like a huge dolls house and the opening scene took place inside it. The rest of the stage was cobbled and street urchins played in the rain, yes real (well pretend) rain. It was so clever. The house then unfolded, just like a dolls house would, and there was a room set with a spiral staircase leading down to the stage proper. I have never in my life seen a staging like it. The actors used all the theatre too. The ‘Inspector’ of the title entered via the back of the theatre and at one point said some of his lines from the balcony. It was quite thrilling to watch. However, tonights the audience consisted of 90% young people. Its seems that the play is part of this years GCSE syllabus. Some of the melodrama caused major hysteria amongst the mainly young audience. There were also a lot of titters every now and then at displays of anger or remorse on stage. It sort of made me think that bits of the play were too old fashioned for a younger audience and that Mr Priestly is probably spinning in his grave at this point. Goodness know what the actors thought of the often rowdy masses in the auditorium. JB Priestley’s tale of dark deeds was turned into a comedy at times. I do not want to say much about the plot, suffice to say than when this particular Inspector calls it has disastrous consequences for every member of the family. Oh and the house blows up! He he - I will say no more. Other than go and get a ticket. Its on until Saturday. Another ten out of ten from me. You can reach the box office on 0843 208 6000 Due to problems with spam only SalfordOnline members can now leave comments. Becoming a member of SalfordOnline only takes a minute, just hit the red Join Us button at the top right hand side of the page to create your Personal account. Got a news story? Need help with publicity for an event in Salford? Send it to newsdesk@salfordonline.com or call the SalfordOnline newsdesk on 0161 789 5377. |
