Los Angeles based Theatre Movement Bazaar’s return to the Fringe with its production of Gogol’s satire The Government Inspector is completely outlandish. This new musical adaption is a farcical, madcap, fast-paced romp through this story of corruption, greed and crooked bureaucrats. It all sounds very familiar to today’s politics.
Set in a small town in America in the seventies, the local mayor and officials are thrown into chaos when a letter arrives informing them that an inspector from the capital, Washington DC, is about to visit them to investigate their tiny little town but is travelling incognito.
Panic ensues as the town’s officials are summoned to the mayor’s office. There is much to sort out. The hospital is overcrowded: the school superintendent prefers to champion the arts rather than the basics of Math and English. Moreover, the judge hasn’t attended the courthouse for weeks, preferring to have long lunches, the prison is a disgrace and everyone is on the make. As the mayor tells them, “we are doomed.”
When they discover that a stranger has already arrived at the local inn, they mistakenly assume that he is the inspector. He is in fact a lowly civil servant who has gambled his money away, but the officials bribe him with money which he accepts “as loans.”
What makes this production so funny is the comic cartoon versions of the characters with a hotchpotch of bizarre costumes and hairstyles to the synchronised, hilarious choreography. The extremely hard-working cast treat us to exhausting, energetic performances that are simply surreal.
Musically, there is certainly a Latin American vibe, but also some lovely ballads and rousing chorus numbers. It is obvious that the company relish their over-the-top acting style, creating great buffoonery and hilarity.