An Inspector Calls - J.B. Priestley

2003 season

Written at the close of WWII and set before the first World War, Priestley's successful thriller/drama focuses on an Inspector Goole . He calls upon the well-to-do Birling family to ask them questions about their relationship to a young woman, Eva Smith, who has just committed suicide the day before.

His relentless probing unravels layer upon layer of connection between the Birlings and the poor girl and how their interactions indirectly led to her suicide. The audience is meant to understand the connections between all the members of this (or any) society, from the poor children mutely present around the play's edges to the great business tycoon Mr. Birling himself and how each member's actions have consequences for others.

Even when the family realizes they've been duped by Goole - who turns out not to have been an inspector giving information about any actual suicide at all, the more humane members of the family, such as Sheila , the daughter and the son Eric, still remain deeply shaken. But before the curtain closes, we find out from a mysterious phone call that a young woman has just committed suicide in the same manner Goole described.

This production opened in Prague on the 8th of December and has since been touring large scale venues throughout Europe and Scandinavia, finishing in May 2004.

The Cast