The 30th Anniversary tour of National Theatre’s acclaimed production of JB Priestley’s AN INSPECTOR CALLS, adding to the huge catalogue of great shows we’ve had in South Wales post-lockdown..
We can expect something very special when the show pulls in to the New Theatre in Cardiff next week. I think it’s fair to say that the shows Director STEPHEN DALDRY comes highly acclaimed too, with an Academy Award nominations for his films The Reader, The Hours, Billy Elliot and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. His recent West End theatre work includes David Hare’s Skylight at the Wyndham’s Theatre and Peter Morgan’s The Audience at the Apollo Theatre; and for those of us who have been glued to the Netflix series The Crown, will be aware of Stephen’s work on that.
His multi award-winning production of Billy Elliot The Musical ran for 11 years at the Victoria Palace before embarking on a national tour, and has recently been revived at the Curve Leicester in a new five-star production.
In the 30-years since its first performance at the National Theatre in 1992, Stephen Daldry’s production of An Inspector Calls has won a total of 19 major awards, including four Tony Awards and three Olivier Awards, and has played to more than 5 million theatregoers worldwide. An Inspector Calls is the most internationally-lauded production in the National Theatre’s history.
The cast of this new tour includes Liam Brennan as ‘Inspector Goole’, Christine Kavanagh as ‘Mrs Birling’, Jeffrey Harmer as ‘Mr Birling’, Simon Cotton as ‘Gerald Croft’, Evlyne Oyedokun as ‘Sheila Birling’, George Rowlands as ‘Eric Birling’ and Frances Campbell as ‘Edna’. The cast is completed by Philip Stewart, Beth Tuckey, Maceo Cortezz and Rue Blenkinsop.
Despite the fact they have two shows in Cambridge, SIMON COTTON allowed us to drag him out of bed for a chat about the play, tour and his last visit to the Wales. If you’re going to see the show next week, and we highly recommend you do, there are no spoilers from Simon during the interview.
JB Priestley’s brilliantly constructed masterpiece powerfully dramatises the dangers of casual capitalism’s cruelty, complacency and hypocrisy.
When Inspector Goole calls unexpectedly on the prosperous Birling family investigating the suicide of a poor young local woman his startling revelations shatter the very foundation of their lives. As the Inspector asks insinuating questions it becomes clear that they all bear guilt for the destruction of the woman they have variously exploited for cheap labour, cheap sex and worse – And then the plot thickens.
An Inspector Calls is designed by Ian MacNeil, with music by Academy Award winning composer Stephen Warbeck and Lighting by Rick Fisher. It opens on Tuesday 18th and runs through to Saturday 22nd October. Shows are at 7:30pm with 2:30pm on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. For more details, and tickets, go HERE.
Incidentally, we have heard rumour that Stephen Daldry was recently tipped to be directing a new stage adaptation of Netflix’s smash-hit series Stranger Things.
