Some plays are almost timeless. J B Priestley’s impassioned plea for a more humane world, An Inspector Calls, keeps on trucking, almost 80 years after it was first staged in 1945.

By Miles Salter

Photos by Tristram Kenton

Part ghost-story, part whodunnit, and partly a yell of moral outrage, it contains enough mystery and power to keep audiences gripped. The Inspector in question (Inspector Goole, the clue’s in the name, played robustly by a commanding Liam Brennan) calls on a wealthy family (there’s a nod of the head to the famous image in The Exorcist of the man priest standing outside the house, with hat, trench coat and briefcase.) A girl has died by suicide who used to be in the employment of the Birling family, and one by one the family members demonstrate an influence upon this death. The play is damning about those who care little of the misfortunes of others. What would have Priestly made of energy companies making huge profits while the poor choose between ‘heating and eating’? His stance for left-field politics is well known, and he was influential in the formation of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. 

A strong cast made the most of the dialogue. Jeffrey Harmer was suitably pompous as Arthur Birling, the embodiment of the selfish capitalist, with Christine Kavanagh playing his prissy and self-centred wife Sybil. Simon Cotton provided further arrogance in the shape of Gerald Croft and George Rowlands played a drink-laced Eric Birling. It’s left to Sheila, Arthur’s daughter, played by the beautiful Chloe Orrock, to feel a sense of burden at what has happened. Frances Campbell as Edna was a mute presence as a subservient maid, showing more dignity in her silence than the squabbling family around her, a reminder of Orwell’s utterance ‘if there is hope, it is with the proles’. She was terrific. 

In ninety minutes, the cast never put a foot wrong, and the play shows little sign of ageing – although the moment towards the end when Sybil departs the stage only to return shortly later smacked of Victorian melodrama. The staging was excellent, with silent extras reminding the audience of ‘the other’ and how we should treat our community. Art that preaches a message doesn’t always work, but the immersion in story and character here takes the play above the sanctimonious. And there’s nothing quite like being in the room and suspending disbelief; audible gasps rose from the (mostly young) audience at moments of dramatic power. It showed that, away from iPhones and computer screens, theatre still has power to jolt and surprise.

An Inspector calls is being performed at Grand Opera House, York until Saturday 11 February 2023. Miles Salter is a writer, musician and storyteller based in York. He fronts the band Miles and The Chain Gang, books bands for York’s Victoria Vaults, and is Creative Director of York Alive (coming soon).