Gogol's ‘The Government Inspector’ at the National Theatre, 1985

Abstract

Although numbered among the earliest of masterpieces from the modern repertoire, Gogol'sThe Government Inspectorhas its roots deep in earlier Russian society, and much of its apparent humour is based on close observation of the gradations and prejudices of provincial Russian society in the early nineteenth century. In a detailed exploration of the revival in the National Theatre's Olivier auditorium, Mark Hawkins-Dady relates the play to its origins, suggesting that the director Richard Eyre stuck closely to the metaphorical truth, at least, of the social ambience selected by Gogol – and that the apparently eccentric casting of ‘alternative comedian’ Rik Mayall in the central role closely reflected Gogol's own feelings about the nature and playing of the character. Mark Hawkins-Dady is a graduate student in the Drama Department of Royal Holloway College. University of London, currently preparing a doctoral dissertation on directing practices at the National Theatre.