An Inspector Calls at Limelight Theatre

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Thu 22 Feb 2024 - Sat 09 Mar 2024

Will you hear the call? Limelight Theatre is presenting the timeless classic An Inspector Calls as its first season of 2024. Written by master English playwright JB Priestley and directed by Gordon Park, the play follows the prosperous Birling family and their celebrations – until they are interrupted by a mysterious inspector.


He starts making enquiries about the tragic death of a working-class woman and his investigation reveals each family member’s role in her death, exposing their moral shortcomings. “What unfolds as a result of his questioning reminds us, in life, our actions have consequences and suggests to us that regardless of our status or position in this world, we have a responsibility to one another,” Gordon said.


“An Inspector Calls is a timeless piece and, although it’s set in 1912 England, the story and the meaning it conveys could just as easily apply in 2024. It’s enthralling and thought-provoking with an underlying message, so it’s not surprising the play has been revived many times – most recently in London – and has been adapted for film or television on nine occasions.”


Involved in theatre for the past 30 years, Gordon came to WA in 1988 and has performed in a plethora of productions with Limelight, Playlovers, Stirling, Harbour, Old Mill, Rockingham and Marloo Theatres. Most recently, he appeared in Molière’s vTartuffe and directed Pack of Lies, scoring a Finley Award for best ensemble.


“An Inspector Calls appealed because it weaves together mystery with morality and the social structure of Britain in the early 1900s,” Gordon said. “Each role in the play offers a tremendous challenge for the actors concerned – when you direct a drama, you need to feel passionate about the production and its storyline. I find this one particularly intriguing because it delivers a message; one that audiences will be thinking about long after they leave the theatre.”


Dr John Baxendale, a former principal lecturer in cultural history at Sheffield Hallam University, and author of Priestley’s England: JB Priestley and English Culture, explained at the 2015 Bradford Literature Festival – Priestley was born in Bradford – why An Inspector Calls has stood the test of time: “He once wrote that he ‘wanted to write something that, at a pinch, could be read aloud in a bar parlour. And the time soon came when I was read and understood in a 1000 bar parlours’.


“An Inspector Calls has been heard and understood in thousands of theatres around the world. Its simplicity is therefore a large factor in its enduring appeal. The second reason is that it is a gripping piece of drama that maintains the shape and atmosphere of a thriller. It is a play that demands answers to questions that can only be found by continued watching.”


In a program essay for a production of An Inspector Calls at the 2008 Canadian Shaw Festival, Dr Baxendale noted: “The play is not about social reform… but about a vision of how life could be different if we acknowledge the truth that we are all members of one another. Later in 1945, Priestley recalled for his radio audience the summer of 1940, when ‘we had a glimpse of what life might be if men and women freely dedicated themselves, not to their appetites and prejudices, but to some great communal task’ and, amidst the brute threat of war, there appeared on the horizon ‘the faint radiance of some far-off promised land’… Priestley may be telling us that second chances do come, even out of the most unpromising circumstances.”


An Inspector Calls plays at 7.30pm February 22, 23, 24, 29, March 1, 2, 7, 8 and 9 with a 2pm matinee March 3. Tickets are $27, $22 concession and $17 children (under 16) – book at TAZTix.com.au or call TAZTix on 9255 3336. Limelight Theatre is on Civic Drive, Wanneroo .



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!date 9/3/2024