Review-The Government Inspector-Shadow Players
26-6-14
By: Meaghan McGurgan
Shadow Players' The Government Inspector is a wonderful production: full of fast paced dialogue, over the top physical comedy and witty one-liners. Gogol’s The Government Inspector is a theatrical classic; one of the plays you studied in school at length. Shadow Players’ version of this story is a bit shorter than the typical production of this play. It lasts roughly an hour and fifty minutes without intermission, so make sure to have a snack and hit the bathroom before the show.
Visually this show is pretty fabulous. It has wonderful costume and set designs by Minna Cheung. I appreciated her attention to detail and ability to transform the Fringe Club black box into a world of Russian opulence. Julian Lamb’s blocking is very strong. He created solid stage pictures and a specific physical style for each character. The cast was strongest when they did things in unison, either speaking together or reacting together. It created some solid comedy and reinforced the style of the work.
Cast standouts included Joseph Lin as the Governor. He had a wonderful tone to his voice, handled the dialogue well and was very funny. Dorcas Wan as the Charity Commissioner was fantastic. She reminded me of Snidely Whiplash from the Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons. Her facial expressions really sold the character and her small stature really worked in the presentation of the role. Joanne Leung as the Postmaster was also pretty adorable. She had this wide eyed, doe-like expression that was captivating when she walked on stage. Her vocals for the Postmaster also helped us believe in the characters’ vulnerability.
Where the show could have improved was pacing of the dialogue. It was very fast, sometimes too fast, especially at the beginning of the play. I would be concerned that if audiences didn’t know the story well or who the characters were, they would have spent half the play confused about who was who. This is mainly because they spoke the character’s Russian surnames really quickly. Russian names sound similar and can be a bit complicated on the tongue. I wish they would have slowed down a bit in the first scene, so we could have had a better sense of who was playing which character.
Lamb’s direction of the play called for a stylized physicalization of the show. Everything was to the extreme: the walking, the reactions to bad news and the scene changes. There were many "LOL" moments within the play, although the best zinger of the evening went to Ines-Kwai Pun for "Oh God, he's a mind reader!" The over the top style of comedy made for an interesting show to watch but sometimes important lines were lost in the overtly theatrical presentation. As much as I loved Francis Chan’s commitment to playing Khlestakov and thought he had killer comedic timing, I often struggled to understand the words he was saying.
Overall, The Shadow Players have put on a great show with high production values, interesting staging, and a unique vision of Gogol’s play. I would highly recommend it to theatre lovers. This company is making a name for itself as a local company whose work is not to be missed.
The Government Inspector is sold out! For more information, click here.
Comments
Dolly
I agree with you that the show was very pretty but I could not stand the actor who played the con man character. He was so over the top it was ridiculous and you couldn't understand half the words coming out of his mouth. We left halfway through. What's the point in doing a show if you can't pronunciate???
30 June 2014