Evlyne Oyedokun’s theatrical credits including Key Workers Cycle at the Almeida, Perspective – New Views at the National Theatre, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead at the Old Vic and The Cherry Orchard at Nottingham Playhouse.

Priestley also presents Sybil Birling as someone who does not care how people from the lower classes live. Priestley sees this as part of the problem with the rich in Edwardian times and since there is no government assistance charities need to help. Although Sybil Birling belongs to the Brumley Women’s Charity Organization, she only helps those who she thinks have earned it. So when Eva Smith, who is pregnant, asks for help and calls herself Mrs Birling, Sybil Birling is extremely angry and tells her committee not to assist. This is an example of irony, because Sybil Birling doesn’t know that Eric is the unborn baby’s father. To make things worse, she then tells the Inspector when he is questioning her that the father of the child should be made to pay and be, ‘dealt with very severely’.

Spread the word

You might think Mrs Birling would think hard about what she has done and Eric’s problems, but when she speaks next she just blames Eric. She is more concerned with avoiding a scandal, and this tell us that despite everything that has happened she is not willing to learn from the Inspector and change. George: “I did read it at school, although I can’t really remember much of it. But I did always like it. I always think at school, when you sit down and analyse every single word, it can make you go a bit crazy, and I always thought it ruined books and plays. But now that I’m an adult, or more importantly now that I’m an actor, I definitely have more of an appreciation for it.” George: “With other jobs, you can put a direct amount of work in, you can work more, you can do this and this, and your results will be better because of it. Like if you’re studying for an exam, the more you revise, the better the result. George Rowlands’ Eric Birling and Christine Kavanagh’s Mrs Birling in rehearsal. Picture: Mark Douet If there is no Inspector, then there can be no Eva Smith. This allows Mr and Mrs Birling and Gerald to sigh with relief, as if the events they have been through didn’t happen, like waking from a nightmare. Priestley’s socialist uprising of a play dramatises the dangers of casual capitalism’s cruelty, complacency and hypocrisy. Over its 105 unbroken minutes, Daldry’s German expressionist interpretation builds a political layer, one whose resonance renews with each era.

David Thewlis plays title role in BBC's An Inspector Calls". Prolific North. 30 January 2015. Archived from the original on 6 February 2015 . Retrieved 9 March 2015.Evlyne: “I’m really bad at this stuff! A lot of people tend to make their dressing rooms cosy with nice blankets and things. I just bring everything that I have in my bag and that’s pretty much it. Premiered at York Theatre Royal in 1989, this time it will play the Grand Opera House for the first time from February 7 to 11 2023 on its 30 th Anniversary UK and Ireland Tour: so called because the London premiere was staged in 1992 at the National Theatre. David Thewlis to lead BBC One's new adaptation of An Inspector Calls". Digital Spy. 30 January 2015 . Retrieved 9 March 2015. Wollaston, Sam (14 September 2015). "An Inspector Calls; This Is England '90 review: a message from a century ago, and friends appear from decades ago". The Guardian. London . Retrieved 15 September 2015. Goole delivers one of theatre's most resonant final speeches: "And I tell you that the time will soon come when, if men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish. Good night."

He thinks that the future is just fine, with ‘increasing prosperity’ ahead. Eric is less certain, but his father dismisses him. This is a tragedy when you consider that Eric (and Gerald) would be the right age to fight in the First World War, when millions died, something Priestley would have known about. On this occasion, I was put in mind of Agatha Christie’s classic novel And Then Were None, in which a group of sinners—all of whom have contributed to the deaths of others—are eliminated one by one in an isolated house. J B Priestley may not resort to homicide, but the truths he places within Inspector Goole’s mouth have devastating consequences nonetheless. The film is set in 1912 and follows the events of a single evening on which the wealthy Birling family is holding a dinner party to celebrate the engagement of their daughter. The festivities are interrupted by a visit from what is taken to be a policeman, Inspector Goole, who is investigating the recent suicide of a local young woman. Goole’s interrogations of each member of the dinner party make it clear that all of them have contributed to the tragedy through individually unjust, selfish or exploitative behaviour. The "Inspector" leaves the subdued group with a warning that human beings have shared responsibility for each other and that this lesson will soon be taught "in fire and blood and anguish" — an apparent reference to the outbreak of World War I two years later. The Inspector is Priestley’s mouthpiece. This means he speaks about the need for a fair society with a strong sense of community. When Inspector Goole arrives unexpectedly at the prosperous Birling family home, their peaceful dinner party is shattered by his investigations into the death of a young woman. His startling revelations shake the very foundations of their lives and challenge us all to examine our consciences. More relevant now than ever, this is a must-see for a whole new generation of theatregoers.

Why See An Inspector Calls?

Investigating the death of a young woman in poverty, he is the ultimate outsider, exposing something rotten in the state of the Birlings/England. Goole by name, ghoul by nature, the Marley to bilious Arthur Birling's Ebenezer Scrooge, he is also Priestley's still prescient prophet on stage (JB foreseeing the need for change in GB that will sweep Labour to power in 1945). The voice of moral conscience, the harbinger in the moonlight, demanding a turning of the tide. The production is well performed by a strong ensemble, but I was particularly impressed by the more seasoned performers. Liam Brennan gives an arresting (no pun intended) performance as the inspector, while Jeff Harmer and Christine Kavanagh are both excellent as the elder Birlings. George: “Eric is well educated because he’s been sent to public school. He enjoys a drink, probably a little bit too much. He really wants to be respected by his dad. Unfortunately, the combination results in some pretty catastrophic things.”

That’s how I realised it’s the only thing I can do. Drama school taught me how to speak and acting taught me how to be more of a human than I ever was.” Inside, the year is 1912; outside it is 1945 as urchins play in the rain-swept, thundering wartime streets in the year when Priestley wrote his play. A pillar-box telephone and steam radio denote the latter era, as does the Bogart raincoat of Brennan’s sternly ScottishInspector Goole. Evlyne: “If I had to be someone out of all the characters, it would definitely be the inspector, because I’m obsessed with crime documentaries and serial killers, everything to do with murder, unsolved murder, unsolved mysteries, death row, all of that! I’ve pretty much seen everything and I re-watch it to go to sleep.” While the morality of the play is not particularly nuanced—Arthur Birling, for example, is the archetype of the money-grasping industrialist, while his cold wife (Christine Kavanagh) embodies snobbery and moral disapproval—there is something undeniably satisfying about watching these appalling people being confronted with their misdeeds.Priestley was interested in the idea of time, and wrote several plays, such as ‘Dangerous Corner’ (1932), that included the theme of time. In ‘An Inspector Calls’ he explores the idea that time could repeat itself so that events happen again. Evlyne: “Well, the fact that is has three timelines helps. It’s set across three timelines – you’ve got 1912, which is where the play is set; then you’ve got the future, which is the Blitz, 1945, and then you’ve also got the current now, 2022.