Event: 02/06/2011 - 09/07/2011
If you thought Russian dramas were all emotionally draining sagas involving people with a thousand nicknames then you're not entirely correct: some of the great Russian playwrights also did comedy. Don't act surprised, did you think that all that vodka and cold weather was never cause for laughter as well as soul searching?
The Government Inspector is one of these Russian comedies. Written by
Nikolai Gogol,
Nabakov called this play
"The greatest comedy in the Russian language". So that's at least two huge names in the Russian literati giving it two big thumbs up for laughs.
If you're still not convinced you'll crack a smile then check out the cast list. The Young Vic has pulled off a comedy casting coup: marrying
Julian Barratt of
The Mighty Boosh and
Doon Mackichan from
Smack the Pony.
The farce, famous for its lack of love interest and of sympathetic characters, is as follows: The corrupt mayor of a small Russian town and his cohorts are told they're going to get a visit from an incognito Government Inspector on the same day that a foppish civil servant comes to town to attend their fair. The mayor puts two and two together and comes up with five, assuming the civil servant is the inspector in disguise. This civil servant is then treated to the works of his generosity and becomes a guest in the mayor's house, flirts outrageously with the mayor's wife and daughter, and receives loans from the town's merchants. Once the civil servant realises that he's been the beneficiary of a case of mistaken identity he hot foots it out of town before he's revealed, or the real Government Inspector arrives.
Richard Jones has done the direction, and he's well known for his excellent work for the Young Vic, so this production is definitely not going to be let down by the creative side.
You too can meet with
The Government Inspector and co. at the
Young Vic between the 3rd of June and the 9th of July.
Why? The laughs aren't lost in translation
When: 7:30pm Wednesday & Saturday matinees (not 4, 8 June): 2:30pm
Where: The Young Vic, 66 The Cut, Waterloo, London SE1 8LZ, nearest station Waterloo
Cost: £10, £17.50, £25, £29.50
