An Inspector Calls
von J.B. Priestley
in Englischer Sprache
With Margot Erbslöh, Joel Handley, Susanne Monnerjahn, Phil New, Marc-Oliver Teschke, Roger Reade and Qiao Zhang
Directed by Manfred Tamm
Set & costumes: Margot Erbslöh
Adaptation: Susanne Monnerjahn
Sound, light & logistics: Didier Marchand
On a summer evening in 1912 in Brumley, an English manufacturing town, the wealthy factory owner and politician Arthur Birling and his wife Sybil are celebrating the engagement of their daughter Sheila to a rival industrialist’s son, Gerald Croft. The Birlings’ son Eric, whose drinking problem the family discreetly ignores, is also at the family gathering. After dinner Arthur lectures them on the importance of self-reliance and looking after your own interests. He talks of the peaceful and prosperous future that awaits the couple (of course, the characters in the play have no knowledge of world events after 1912). The seemingly cosy evening is interrupted by the arrival of a man calling himself Inspector Goole, who says he is investigating the death of a young woman who took her own life. Who is to blame for her death?
About the Author and the Play
John Boynton Priestley (1894-1984) was a prolific British novelist, playwright, screenwriter, broadcaster, and social commentator, publishing over 150 works during his lifetime. In many of the plots of his dramas, theories of time become a central theatrical device.
The play “An Inspector Calls” is one of his best-known works for the stage and is considered one of the classics of mid-20th century English theatre. The play is also well-known in Germany, where it was included in the school curriculum for many years.
Although first performed in 1945 and set more than 30 years earlier, “An Inspector Calls” is considered a timeless piece of theatre. To this day, J. B. Priestley’s story about personal and collective responsibility has lost none of its relevance.
“An Inspector Calls” is not only a bitter satire studded with criticism of capitalism, but also an existentialist drama and a gripping crime story. The crimes committed here, however, are not those of a typical murder mystery but are much more subtle and enigmatic…