An Inspector Calls
2016
Written by J. B. Priestly
Directed by Mary Fitzpatrick
Lighting by Greg Mancusi-Ungaro
Projections by Michael Patterson
Arlington Friends of the Drama
A mysterious inspector interrogates a wealthy English family about their responsibility for the death of a young working class factory girl. The play is set in 1912, just as the first World War, which would put an end to a comfortable upper middle-class way of life, is looming. It was written in 1945, at the end of a second World War that seemed likely to usher in another new era of social and cultural change. It offers a passionate plea for a more just and compassionate society.
Out-of-plumb set elements and a raked stage underscore the precarious existence of this early 20th century industrialist and his family. The unraveling of the Birlings is paralleled by the deterioration of the pristine period interior through the use of projections.
Photography by Jon Sachs and Leslie Maiocco
