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The Government Inspector

2022-2023, 2023-2024 National Theatre of Northern Greece

The Government Inspector - Nikolai Gogol

Opening: Vassiliko Theatre, 07/04/2023

“The Government Inspector” was first staged in 1836. Nikolai Gogol wrote a social satire in which he lambasts relations in pre-revolutionary Russia, based as they were on power and submission, corruption and despotism. Once again, he focuses on civil servants, the people who languish between their fear of the hierarchy and their curtailed ambitions. As a true realist, Gogol wanted more than to simply describe a situation and the factors that make it what it is, and he succeeds, through his comically pathetic characters, in talking about people, their needs and their pettiness. What’s more, with the distance comedy ensures, he does this with remarkable precision and clarity.
As a small Russian provincial town awaits the arrival of a top civil servant despatched to inspect the workings of its apparatus of state, Khlestakov, an unscrupulous and naive young wastrel, pretends to be the inspector so he can profit from this “minor” misunderstanding. Seeking to gain his favour, the local officials indulge in flattery, fall over themselves to fulfil his every need, and fall victim to the biggest scam of them all.

Playwright: Nikolai Gogol

Translation: Errikos Belies

Director: Giannis Kakleas

Dramaturgical Advising: Giannis Kakleas

Sets: Ilenia Douladiri

Sets: Giannis Kakleas

Costumes: Ilenia Douladiri

Music: Dimitris Papadimitriou

Movement: Stefania Sotiropoulou

Lighting: Stella Kaltsou

Director’s Assistant: Rea Samaropoulou

Stage instructor: Mary Andreou