By Milly Saber
On Wednesday 26th April, students from Year 10 were fortunate enough to go on a school trip to Richmond Theatre, to see ‘An Inspector Calls’. There were many other schools there, and the atmosphere was buzzing. The story of the play, set in 1912, followed the Birling family, with each member being accused of having something to do with the death of a local girl. The actors were all illustrious. Chloe Orrock played ‘Sheila Birling’, delivering her lines admirably. Christine Kavanagh and Jeffrey Harmer played their roles splendidly, making it clear to the audience that their characters, Mr. and Mrs. Birling, were of the older generation and capitalist. The playwright, J.B. Priestley was a socialist, and therefore presented Mr. and Mrs. Birling as uncaring to get his beliefs across to a wide audience. But it is safe to say that the star of the show was unquestionably Liam Brennan, who played Inspector Goole. He delivered his lines with great emotion, perfectly capturing the spirit of a real police inspector.
The set design was quite plain, with only the Birling house onstage. The lighting did not change, it stayed grey almost throughout the entire play. This really helped to show that the play was about quite a serious matter.
All in all, the play was a huge success and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is studying ‘An Inspector Calls’ for their English GCSE.