Senior school production wows audiences

Year 11 and 12 drama students recently wowed audiences with their performances of The Government Inspector. Written by Nikolai Gogol and adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher; The Government Inspector is a wild and frenetic comedy about corruption, greed and human vanity. The play saw students take to the stage in the Dickinson Centre and tell the story of The Mayor and local officials of a small Russian town who are thrown into a frenzy when they discover that a government inspector has been sent by the Tsar, with "secret instructions". In their panic, they mistake a penniless gambler and low-level clerk as the Inspector with hilarious results. The Government Inspector established Gogol as one of Russia's most renown playwrights and part of the revolution that held a mirror up to society, ridiculing the extensive political corruption of Imperial Russia at the time.

Head of Drama and Production Director Sarah Combes said "The cast and creative team were very much inspired by the slapstick comedic style of Commedia dell'arte. Throughout the rehearsal process we focused on developing the actors' imaginative spontaneity, along with the ability to channel this through heightened physicality and exaggerated characters."

Matt Moore, Drama Captain said "The rehearsal process for The Government Inspector has been an exciting and challenging experience, venturing into the world of slapstick comedy, with the actors employing both physical and psychological techniques to bring this performance to life."