An Inspector Calls, tour at Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre, Boston, through March 24.617-824-8000 or artsemerson.org
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Sometimes a house becomes a veritable character onstage in its own right. Just think of the striking three level house of Tracy Letts' arresting family drama "August: Osage County" that vividly enhances the play's contrasts between the focal matriarch and her daughters. Even more stunning is the hauntingly evolving house of J.B. Priestley's returning 20th century British classic "An Inspector Calls," now in a richly mysterious tour at the Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre.
That air of mystery greets theatergoers once the red stage curtain rises to reveal a brilliant Ian MacNeil set evocatively lit by Rick Fisher contrasting the run-down conditions of the British working class and the striking home of the affluent focal Birlings. Director Stephen Daldry, reprising his acclaimed 1992 revival of the play (1994 on Broadway and later on tour), has the eye-catching 1912 home relatively closed at the start—almost a kind of well-appointed bubble in which the apathetic family resides.
Once the Inspector enters the play, their house opens tellingly whenever the family's indifference is under attack. While poor young children seem to wander un-shepherded in the surrounding exteriors of a fictional North Midlands town called Brinley, the Birlings—decked out in tuxedos and elegant evening dresses—celebrate daughter Sheila's engagement to Gerald Croft, the son of a rival factory owner, with a champagne toast.
Initially they come across as a "well-behaved family," even an exemplary one. Then a man wearing a raincoat and a big-brimmed hat calls, and their April evening and lives for that matter will never be the same. Identifying himself as Inspector Goole, their unexpected visitor informs them that Eva Smith—a young woman also known as Daisy Renton and a worker at Birling's factory—has committed suicide. Individual interrogations follow.
Did any members of the family know Smith despite their denials? Could any or all of the family have done something meaningful to dissuade Eva and save her life? For that matter, is Goole all he appears to be.Throughout the questioning, audience members become a kind of silent jury.
They listen to every revelation—for example, that Eva was pregnant, that entrepreneur Arthur Birling opposes strikes and that Sheila's brother Eric has a drinking problem—and seem to work alongside Goole to find the solution of the case. Along the way, the inspector speaks up for the rights of workers and makes a powerful case for the haves of the world feeling a strong responsibility for the needs of the have nots.
Above and beyond issues of culpability in the death of Eva Smith, warns arguably socialist Priestley, the Birlings and all human beings in a position to make a difference must learn from their failings. Sheila demonstrates that she has learned, and Eric to a lesser extent. Their parents and Croft may never learn. Daldry's breakthrough revival resonated deeply when it first toured about 25 years ago. Priestley's call for human responsibility and action resonates even more than ever when the gap between the wealthy and the needy threatens to become an unbridgeable abyss.
Director Daldry's first-rate cast brings full authority to that resonance. Liam Brennan as Goole smartly moves from a relatively low-key approach a la Columbo to the pivotal outburst in which the Inspector verbally lacerates the Birlings. Lianne Harvey captures Sheila's early devil may care attitude as well as her growing guilty conscience. Hamish Riddle finds Eric's vulnerability and hurt-especially reacting to his cold father Arthur, played with proper viciousness by Jeff Harmer. Christine Kavanagh parades mother Sybil's haughtiness. Andrew Macklin has all of Croft's shallowness.
Sheila observes insightfully that Goole inspected the family. Priestley's wise play—especially thanks to Daldry's fascinating stagecraft—invites audiences to undergo introspection about their own commitment to human caring and responsibility. In a time of dangerous climate change and spreading demagoguery, "An Inspector Calls" chillingly investigates us all.