Spoilers ahoy!
An Inspector Calls should almost be dated. Written in the wake of the second world war, it seems to address issues specific to its era.
Yet here we are. Topical as ever. Maybe moreso, frankly.
J.B.Priestley's play might almost count as an inspiration for The Twilight Zone. Exactly why I'll leave for you to find out. But the set up involves an engagement party in the home a wealthy businessman named Birling (David Hunt Stafford) whose daughter Sheila (Katyana Rocker-Cook) plans to wed Gerald (Isaac W. Jay), while Mrs. Birling (Diana Angelina) beams in pleasure and the son of the family, Eric (Monty Renfrow). Everyone--or almost everyone--feels extremely pleased with themselves, amid drinks and talk of jewelry and of course business affairs.
Indeed Birling himself gives a speech to his son all about how, no matter what anyone says, responsibility counts for nothing compared to taking care of one's own. With superb timing, mere seconds after such declarations, the title come true. Edna the Housekeeper (Quinn de Vries) comes in with news an Inspector has arrived and wishes to speak with them. When said Inspector (Mouchette van Helsdingen) enters with dreadful news--news which upsets everyone who hears it. Some. Not a lot. Not at first. A young woman named Eva Smith (Isabella DiBernadino on the night I saw it) has killed herself in a quite dreadful way, leaving behind a sort of diary. The Inspector intends to find out what led to this tragedy, and what awaits the Birling family are a series of revelations from which they may never recover--although they will do their absolute most to refuse to allow that.
Director Cate Caplin made some interesting tiny changes in this production--staged for only a handful of performances at the utterly grand Graystone Manor--not least making the Inspector a woman (given this is 1932, absolutely impossible but honestly I for one don't care much). Most interestingly, though, is how the memory--maybe the ghost--of Eve Smith wanders on stage now and then. It creates a sense someone is watching the characters, remembering their actions, judging them. Very appropriate as events transpire. It brings into sharper relief themes explored in speech, but only slightly in action. Methinks this choice proved wise.
More, it echoes what this play clearly intends to do. The characters end up haunted, and hopefully so to members of the audience. As far as performances go, much of the action in the play is carried by the Inspector, by Sheila, then eventually Gerald and Eric. Perhaps intended as a hint of how the young must shoulder most of the burden of change? Priestley's play harkens to such ideas quite vividly, one reason it remains consistently produced seven decades after opening.
A blend of mystery and drama, with more than a few hints of the uncanny, performed and staged for emotional impact are what this play needs to work. Beyond doubt in this production has achieved precisely that.
An Inspector Calls plays Wednesday through Saturday (Jan. 14 thru 17) at 7:30pm, and Sunday (Jan 18) at 2pm. Tickets can only be purchased online at the link in the title. Performances are at Graystone Mansion (905 Loma Vista Dr, Beverly Hills, CA 90210) which nicely has plenty of parking.
