Felicicia Roach
The Communicator 

The SFCC drama department brought The Government Inspector, a Russian comedy, to the Spartan Theatre.   

 The Government Inspector is a play about corruption in a small town and how an imposter government Inspector visits this town. The young man mistaken for the Government Inspector readily accepts all the bribes the mayor gives him to keep he inspector quiet. Throughout the play the mayor doesn’t realize the young man is an imposter. Soon to find out the imposter goes as far as proposing to the mayor’s daughter. 

After proposing to the mayors daguther the imposter flee’s. Then the town finds out he is a fake they start to panic because that means the real Inspector Government is coming.  

The play is serious in the way it shows illustrates corruption but it is a comedy that will earn laughs as well.

The director Bill Marlowe did an excellent job in directing the play. They used Russian names but kept their American accents. Marlowe first did this production in Arizona and now he has brought this amazing play to Spokane.  

All his hard work was very noticeable in the performance of the play.   

This play was originally written in the mid-1800s by Nikolai Gogol. Even though it was written so long ago it still speaks about how people take advantage of the things around them. In marlowes opinion with all the current political corruption in the state of Washington and the financial crisis this play fits very well for a college production. The production shows how corruption can affect a town.

The acting was very good. The actors all did their lines very well and they each suited their part. The lead roles, The Government Inspector was played by Chad Herrmann and the mayor was played by Brandon Montang. They both did a great job and provided an enjoyable performance.

The costumes for the girls contained a lot of color and some floral print dresses and the men wore plain and plaid suits.  The costumes fit the time period very well.

The set had a variety of color. One part of the set was the mayor’s home which held some scenes of government officials discussing business and the other half was the bedroom.

The scenery had an older look considering the play was written mid-1800s.

There were a lot of pastel colors like yellows and greens on set. The set looked really nice and went well with the costumes.

The Government Inspector was a great play. It was very funny, enjoyable and had a good atmosphere. The play continues Nov. 13 through Nov. 15.

You can contact the writer at staffwriter@spokanefalls.edu