A small provincial town is thrown into chaos when a rumour spreads that a high ranking government official is staying at the local inn; he doesn’t eat, he doesn’t talk to anyone, he never leaves his room. His secretive behaviour is taken to mean that he’s making meticulous reports on the town’s institutions.
Actually, he just can’t pay his bills. The landlord threatens to have him thrown in jail, so when the mayor goes to visit to pay his respects, the good-for-nothing vagabond assumes the worst…
This is a famous farce by Nikolai Gogol, lampooning the vain and self-seeking behaviour of corrupt officials, and when first shown caused the Tsarist government to ban the play and send its author into exile.
The Government Inspector was performed from the 4th – 7th December 2013 in the Union Concert Hall.