“An Inspector Calls” by J B Priestley
Nottingham Theatre Royal

“An Inspector Calls” is a play that revolves around the apparent suicide of a young woman called Eva Smith.

In the play, the unsuspecting Birling family are visited by the mysterious Inspector Goole. He arrives just as they are celebrating the engagement of Sheila Birling to Gerald Croft.

The Inspector reveals that a girl called Eva Smith, has taken her own life by drinking disinfectant. The family are horrified but initially confused as to why the Inspector has called to see them. What follows is a tense and uncomfortable investigation by an all-knowing Inspector through which the family discover that they are all in fact caught up in this poor girl's death.

But is everything we see and hear, all that it really seems? The clues are there, but can you spot them?

A wonderfully melodramatic production of a classic thriller which, as soon as I saw the set, reminded me that I had seen the production previously, and knew what was in store. That said I lapped up the melodrama.

Liam Brennan (Inspector Goole), Christine Kavanagh (Mrs Birling), Jeff Harmer (Mr Birling),Chloe Orrock (Sheila Birling),
Ryan Saunders (Eric Birling), Alasdair Buchan (Gerald Croft) and Emma Cater (Edna) performed wonderfully and the cast were completed by Jerome Aldworth, Beverley Graham, Huw Ab Jones, James Jordan, Donna Osmond, Pat Tutty, Jane Webb and Samantha Whitworth.

The children were played by Rowan O Driscoll-Besh, who started the production, a massive task for one so very young, Felicity Holman and Mustafa Bukhari.

It's always good to see productions who use the local actors and in this production they are from Nottingham Stagecoach.

Lighting Design is by Rick Fisher, who gave this show quite an eerie feel from the start with the mood lighting.

Sound Design by Sebastian Frost, helped to also give those spine shivers a nudge. The atmospheric music for the show is by Stephen Warbeck.

The complex set design is by Ian MacNeill, and what a great technical set it is.And it's not many sets that can dramatise and reflect the family situation in the way that this one does. When you see it, you'll know exactly what I mean.

Skilfully directed by Stephen Daldry.

The costumes are wonderfully classy for all, and easily takes you back to 1912, the year that the play is set.

Priestley's classic still has the ability to entertain and thrill, and when presented as good as this show, will always be a theatrical must see. Great writing will never go out of fashion, and the proof is here.

“An Inspector Calls” is at the Nottingham Theatre Royal until Saturday 15 February.