Government Inspector

A Young Vic/Warwick Arts Centre co-production
Government Inspector
by Nikolai Gogol
in a new version by David Harrower
Press Night 9 June, 7pm
3 June – 9 July 2011
Main House
The Mighty Boosh ’s Julian Barratt and Smack the Pony’s Doon Mackichan
Macki chan team up for the great Russian
comedy Government Inspector.
Inspector. Directed and adapted by multiple Olivier Award winners Richard Jones
( Anna Nicole, ROH) and David Harrower (Blackbird) it has design by the trailblazing
trailblazing Miriam Buether
(2010 Evening Standard Award winner
wi nner;
nner ; S ucker Punch and Earthquakes in London).
Kyle Soller (The Glass Menagerie, Young Vic) is the incognito out-of-towner mistaken for the government
inspector, the unscrupulous mayor and his wife are played by Barratt and Mackichan. They are joined by regular
Kneehigh collaborator Amanda Lawrence (Brief Encounter, West End; Tristan and Yseult, NT) and Louise
Brealey (Casualty’s Roxy; Sherlock, BBC; Arcadia, Bristol Old Vic; Pornography, Traverse).
The news that a government inspector is due to arrive in a small Russian town sends its bureaucrats into a
panicked frenzy. A simple case of mistaken identity exposes the hypocrisy and corruption at the heart of the town
in this biting satire.
Visionary Russian writer and satirist Nikolai Gogol wrote comic masterpiece The Government Inspector in 1836.
Vladimir Nabokov described it as the greatest play in the Russian language. Although he died at just 42, Gogol’s
literary influence was massive and paved the way for writers such as Kafka and Dostoevsky. Amongst his other
famous works are Dead Souls, Diary of a Madman, The Overcoat and The Nose (later made into an opera by a
young Shostakovich).
Julian Barratt is best known for playing Howard Moon in cult show The Mighty Boosh which he co-wrote with
Noel Fielding. The show exploded onto the Edinburgh Fringe in 1998 winning a Perrier Best Newcomer Award
and quickly becoming a cult hit – with a Radio 4 show (winning the Douglas Adams Award for Innovative Comedy
Writing), and then as a BBC TV show that ran for three series and sold out Wembley Arena as a live show. It won
four NME Awards; three for Best TV Show (three years consecutively) and one for Best Live Show. Julian
recently performed in a Sky Arts adaptation of Chekhov’s The Bear. Other TV includes Nathan Barley, Penelope
Princess of Pets and Garth Marenghi’s Dark Place (all C4). His films include Bunny and the Bull (Warp), Lucky
Break (Miramax) and BAFTA-winning short Sweet. He made his directorial debut recently with short film
Curtains (Warp).
Doon Mackichan co-wrote and performed in double Emmy Award-winning Smack the Pony (C4). Her other
comedy work includes Chris Morris’ The Day Today and Brass Eye (BBC) and Knowing me, Knowing You With
Alan Partridge (BBC). She last performed at the Young Vic in the hilarious A Respectable Wedding. Other recent
theatre includes Loot (Tricycle) and Boeing Boeing (West End). She wrote and performed Primadoona at the
Edinburgh Festival last year.
Kyle Soller recently performed to packed houses at the Young Vic garnering critical and audience acclaim as Jim
in The Glass Menagerie. Prior to that, he played Tom Ripley in The Talented Mr Ripley at the Royal & Derngate,
Northampton. Other credits include The Glass Menagerie (Shared Experience), A Midsummer Night’s Dream
(Globe Tour), Ice Cream (Royal Court) and The Beautiful People (Finborough Theatre).
The cast also includes Steven Beard, Jack
Jack Brough, Fergus Craig, Buffy Davis, Callum Dixon, Bruce
Mackinnon, Eric MacLennan, Simon Muller, Graham O’Mara and David Webber.
Richard Jones is one of the UK’s most ingenious and inventive directors. He most recently directed Anna Nicole
at the Royal Opera House. At the Young Vic he has directed Annie Get Your Gun, The Good Soul of Szechuan, Six
Characters Looking for an Author and Hobson’s Choice. He has won several Olivier Awards for productions
including Hansel and Gretel, Too Clever by Half, Into the Woods (also Evening Standard Award), The Lady
Macbeth of Mtsensk (Royal Opera House), The Trojans and Pelleas and Melisande (ENO). He won the Evening
Standard Award for The Illusion (Old Vic) and the South Bank Show Award for The Queen of Spades (WNO).
David
Dav id Harrower’s
Harrower many plays include the Olivier Award-winning Blackbird (West End, Broadway) and Knives in
Hens (Traverse Theatre, performed in more than 20 countries). For the Young Vic he adapted Sweet Nothings
from Schnitzler’s Liebelei, Brecht’s The Good Soul of Szechuan in 2008 and Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search
of an Author.
Government Inspector is a Young Vic/ Warwick Arts Centre co-production. It previews at Warwick Arts Centre
from 23 – 28 May (www.warwickartscentre.co.uk) before coming to the Young Vic. For full details see notes to
editors.
Government Inspector is directed by Richard Jones, designed by Miriam Buether with costumes by Nicky
Gillibrand, light by Mimi Jordan Sherin and music and sound by David Sawer.
For further press enquiries
enquiries contact:
Laura Myers Press Manager on 020 7922 2979 [email protected]
Simon Thompson Press and Marketing Assistant on 020 7922 2842 [email protected]
Young Vic listings
listings information 3 June – 9 July 2011
Tickets and information www.youngvic.org 020 7922 2922
Times
Monday – Saturday
Wednesday & Saturday matinees (excl. 4, 8 June)
Tickets
Previews (3 – 8 June)
7:30pm
2:30pm
£10, £17.50, £25, £29.50
£10, £17.50
A limited number of discounts are available for each performance. Early booking is advised.
Accessible performances
Audio described: Saturday 9 July at 2:30pm
Captioned: Thursday 7 July at 7:30pm
Warwick Arts Centre listings information 23 – 28 May 2011
Tickets and information www.warwickartscentre.co.uk 024 7652 4524
Monday – Saturday
Saturday matinee
ENDS
7:30pm
2:30pm