{"id":543,"date":"2015-07-16T11:24:18","date_gmt":"2015-07-16T11:24:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hamptontheatre.org\/?p=543"},"modified":"2015-12-17T17:35:00","modified_gmt":"2015-12-17T17:35:00","slug":"an-inspector-calls-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hamptontheatre.org\/?p=543","title":{"rendered":"An Inspector Calls"},"content":{"rendered":"J.B. Priestley\u2019s classic British thriller about a mysterious police inspector who appears out of the fog to upend the lives of a prosperous and self-satisfied family implicated in the death of a young woman.\r\n\n

GENERAL INFO<\/a><\/p>\n

\n \t\r\n
\r\n\"hampton<\/a>\r\n
October 22 – November 8, 2015<\/h6>\r\n
by J.B. Priestley\r\ndirected by Sarah Hunnewell<\/h6>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n
\r\n\r\n\r\nCAST:<\/strong>\r\nInspector Goole\u00a0–\u00a0EDWARD A. BRENNAN\r\nGerald Croft\u00a0–\u00a0ANTHONY FAMULARI\r\nSybil Birling\u00a0–\u00a0SUSAN GALARDI\r\nSheila Birling\u00a0– AMANDA GRIEMSMANN\r\nArthur Birling\u00a0–\u00a0DAREN KELLY\r\nEric Birling\u00a0–\u00a0SPENCER SCOTT\r\n\r\n\r\n<\/div>
<\/div>\r\n\n <\/div>\n

MORE ABOUT THE PLAY\/PLAYWRIGHT<\/a><\/p>\n

\n \t\r\nIt is 1912 in industrial northern England, the unsinkable Titanic has just set sail, the British Empire is safe and secure, and the prosperous Birling family is spending a happy evening celebrating the engagement of their daughter Sheila to Gerald Croft, a young man who ensures a marriage \u201cmade in heaven,\u201d both financially and socially. Yet, just when life seems serene and unassailable in the Birling world, a mysterious Inspector Goole appears claiming to be investigating the shocking suicide of a lovely young woman.\r\n\r\n2015 marks the 70th anniversary of the opening of J. B. Priestley\u2019s classic thriller, a work that is accusatory, tense and filled with the playwright\u2019s scathing views on the hypocrisies of Victorian\/Edwardian English society. The rich and the powerful, argues Priestley, must be saved from themselves. Such an argument remains eerily applicable today and a frisson of recognition is inevitable as audiences realize the timely relevance of Priestley\u2019s words.\r\n\r\n\u2014\r\n\r\nJohn Boynton (J.B.) Priestly, a native of Yorkshire, England, was a novelist, broadcaster and playwright, but it is the latter role at which he achieved his greatest success, writing numerous plays and dramatic adaptions, the most well-known among which is An Inspector Calls<\/em> (1945), followed by his other \u201cTime Plays\u201d (plays influenced by J.W. Dunne\u2019s theory of time), Dangerous Corner<\/em> (1932), Time and the Conways<\/em> (1937) and I Have Been Here Before<\/em> (1937). An Inspector Calls combines his fascination with the nature of time, and the way the choices we make affect the outcomes of our lives, with his scathing opinions of society. Priestley also enjoyed international success with more comedic material such as his early hit, Laburnum Grove<\/em> (1933) and later, When We Were Married<\/em> (1938). During World War II, Priestley achieved the peak of his fame and influence with his BBC \u201cPostscripts\u201d broadcasts, second in popularity only to those of Winston Churchill. Satirist, philosopher, humorist, time-theorist, political and social pundit, and a great man of letters, Priestly was offered a knighthood and a peerage, both of which he refused. He did accept the Order of Merit in 1977.\r\n\n <\/div>\n

WHO'S WHO<\/a><\/p>\n

\n \t\r\n\r\nEDWARD A. BRENNAN<\/b>\u00a0<\/span>(Inspector Goole) has appeared with the Hampton Theatre Company as Angus in\u00a0The Drawer Boy<\/i>, Joe Foster in\u00a0Becky\u2019s New Car<\/i>, Arbuthnot\/Arundel in\u00a0The Enchanted April<\/i>, Chief Bromden in\u00a0One Flew Over The Cuckoo\u2019s Nest\u00a0<\/i>and Ralph in\u00a0Frozen<\/i>. His favorite professional acting credits include the title roles in\u00a0Phantom<\/i>\u00a0and\u00a0Jekyll & Hyde<\/i>, Owen in\u00a0Voices In The Dark<\/i>, Ross in\u00a0Visiting Mr. Green<\/i>, Beast in\u00a0Beauty And The Beast<\/i>, Albin (ZaZa) in\u00a0La Cage Aux Folles<\/i>, Professor Callahan in\u00a0Legally Blonde<\/i>, and Archibald in\u00a0The Secret Garden<\/i>. Ed also directed the HTC\u2019s productions of\u00a0Deathtrap<\/i>\u00a0and\u00a0I Hate Hamlet<\/i>. He holds a Masters degree in Theater and has directed over 40 productions on Long Island.\r\n\r\nANTHONY FAMULARI\u00a0<\/b>(Gerald Croft) made his HTC debut last spring as Sandy Tyrell in\u00a0Hay Fever<\/i>. Anthony studied theater at Stony Brook University and the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute. In addition to roles in a number of independent films, his stage credits include Rich in\u00a0Sailor\u2019s Song<\/i>, Epilogue in\u00a0The Flu Season<\/i>, The Schoolmaster in\u00a0Figaro\/Figaro<\/i>\u00a0and Constantine\u00a0in Big Love<\/i>. A huge thank you to Sarah and to everyone at HTC. And a big thanks to my family for their love and support!\r\n\r\nSUSAN GALARDI<\/b>\u00a0(Sybil Birling) is thrilled to work with the HTC. Regional theater credits include Miss Maudie,\u00a0To Kill a Mockingbird<\/i>, Bay Street; staged readings at Guild Hall: Mag Folan,\u00a0Beauty Queen of Leenane<\/i>; Kate Mundy,\u00a0Dancing at Lughnasa<\/i>; and Juno,\u00a0Juno and the Paycock<\/i>. Susan appeared in her original award-winning musical,\u00a0Living Proof<\/i>, at Wings Theatre; in her children\u2019s musical,\u00a0Natalie Spoo<\/i>, produced at CMEE; and in NYC in her one-woman show directed by Betty Buckley. She wrote and performed sketch comedy throughout the Northeast, and appeared on \u201cLate Night with Conan O\u2019Brien\u201d and Comedy Central. Susan is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon and the Manhattan School of Music. Love to Beth and Hudson for their support.\r\n\r\nAMANDA GRIEMSMANN<\/strong> (Sheila Birling) is thrilled to return to the Hampton Theatre Company following her appearances as Jackie Coryton in Hay Fever<\/em> and Myrtle Mae Simmons in Harvey<\/em>. A Long Island native, she received a B.F.A. in theater from Adelphi University. She has performed for several seasons in Manhattan with The Inwood Shakespeare Festival. Her other favorite credits include: Steel Magnolias<\/em>, Arsenic and Old Lace<\/em>, Don\u2019t Dress For Dinner<\/em>, Hamlet Q1<\/em>, and The Crucible<\/em>. She most recently performed with The Lafayette Salon Series, a monthly reading series that meets at The Players Club. A special thanks to Sarah for this opportunity! Love to friends and family, physically and spiritually, for their constant support and encouragement.\r\n\r\nDAREN KELLY<\/strong> (Arthur Birling) was featured on Broadway in Deathtrap<\/em>, Woman of the Year<\/em>, Crazy for You<\/em> and South Pacific<\/em> (NYC Opera); toured the nation as Julian Marsh in 42nd Street<\/em> and Reverend Moore in Footloose<\/em>; played the Chorus to Al Pacino\u2019s Oedipus<\/em>; is very proud of his participation in Trouble in Mind<\/em> at Arena Stage,Yale and Centre Stage. Daren has performed Shakespeare and modern classics at Long Wharf, South Coast Rep., Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Asolo, Alliance, Bay Street, Shakespeare NJ, Great Lakes, Westport, Cape and Alaska Rep. TV & film: Kingdom Coming<\/em>, Law & Order<\/em>, Trueblood<\/em>, MASH<\/em>, Love Hurts<\/em>, Tales from the Dark Side<\/em> and All My Children<\/em>.\r\n\r\nSPENCER SCOTT<\/strong> (Eric Birling) is very excited to be making his debut with HTC. He studied drama at Syracuse University and currently studies acting at HB Studios in Manhattan. He guest starred in the Discovery ID show \u201cYoung, Hot, and Crooked\u201d and has appeared in several independent films. Theater credits include, A Christmas Carol<\/em> (Young Scrooge), A Midsummer Night\u2019s Dream<\/em> (Demetrius) and Sextortion<\/em> (Donny) which won Best Ensemble at the Fresh Fruit Festival in 2013. Spencer recently performed in the new play God, Sex and Getting Even<\/em> as Rusty. A big thank you to Sarah and HTC for a chance to work with you! And all my love to my friends and family for your support!\r\n\r\nJOHN BOYNTON<\/strong> (J.B.) PRIESTLEY<\/strong> (Playwright), a native of Yorkshire, England, was a novelist, broadcaster and playwright, but it is the latter role at which he achieved his greatest success, writing numerous plays and dramatic adaptions, the most well-known among which is An Inspector Calls<\/em> (1945), followed by his other \u201cTime Plays\u201d (plays influenced by J.W. Dunne\u2019s theory of time), Dangerous Corner<\/em> (1932), Time and the Conways<\/em> (1937) and I Have Been Here Before<\/em> (1937). An Inspector Calls<\/em> combines his fascination with the nature of time, and the way the choices we make affect the outcomes of our lives, with his scathing opinions of society. Priestley also enjoyed international success with more comedic material such as his early hit, Laburnum Grove<\/em> (1933) and later, When We Were Married<\/em> (1938). During World War II, Priestley achieved the peak of his fame and influence with his BBC \u201cPostscripts\u201d broadcasts, second in popularity only to those of Winston Churchill. Satirist, philosopher, humorist, time-theorist, political and social pundit, and a great man of letters, Priestly was offered a knighthood and a peerage, both of which he refused. He did accept the Order of Merit in 1977.\r\n\r\nSARAH HUNNEWELL<\/strong> (Director) has directed many shows for the Hampton Theatre Company; favorites include Time Stands Still<\/em>, The Drawer Boy<\/em>, Rabbit Hole<\/em>, The Enchanted April<\/em>, One Flew Over The Cuckoo\u2019s Nest<\/em>, The Oldest Living Graduate<\/em>, Fuddy Meers<\/em>, Summer and Smoke<\/em>, The Rainmaker<\/em> and The Foreigner<\/em>. She is also the Jill-of-all-trades otherwise known as the Executive Director of the HTC. Many thanks to her excellent cast and crew for their hard work on this production and to our audience members, patrons and all the people who help make our work possible.\r\n\r\nPETER-TOLIN BAKER<\/strong> (Set Designer) is the founder and principal designer of NYC based P-T B Design Services and, as such, provides creative visual design solutions for a range of retail brands, exhibitions and promotional events. Previously, he was the Vice President of Visual Merchandising at Tiffany & Co. and the visual manager with the legendary luxury emporium Henri Bendel. Additional design experience, in California, includes clothing design for Japanese Weekend and design and construction for E.M. Fabrications, a custom display and prop company. Baker was also both production designer and performer with the groundbreaking band Voice Farm. Throughout his career Baker has continued to work as scenic designer for dozens of dramatic and musical productions, including local HITFest\u2019s recent productions of In the Next Room or the vibrator play<\/em>, A Midsummer Night\u2019s Dream<\/em>, and In The Bar of a Tokyo Hotel<\/em>. He designed the sets of Clybourne Park<\/em> and Hay Fever<\/em> for the Hampton Theatre Company.\r\n\r\nSEBASTIAN PACZYNSKI<\/strong> (Lighting Designer) first worked with the Hampton Theatre Company when he designed the company\u2019s 2003 production of Summer and Smoke<\/em> at Guild Hall and has designed all the company\u2019s productions since Proof<\/em> in 2004 as well as the theater\u2019s new lighting system. He has designed lighting for theater, dance and special events in a number of Broadway, Off Broadway, Off Off Broadway and regional venues. He has also worked in film and television as the director of photography. He has designed numerous productions for Guild Hall and for the Hamptons Shakespeare Festival.\r\n\r\nDIANA MARBURY<\/strong> (Set Decor, Properties) would like to thank all the people and businesses that provide the furniture, decorations, and props for each show. Also, a big hand to our wonderful patrons for their continued support. Diana has appeared in 50 HTC productions, most recently Hay Fever<\/em> (Clara), The Foreigner<\/em> (Betty Meeks) and Other Desert Cities<\/em> (Polly Wyeth) and directed last season\u2019s productions of Hay Fever<\/em> and Harvey<\/em> as well as God of Carnage<\/em>, How the Other Half Loves<\/em>, Black Tie<\/em> and \u2018Art\u2019<\/em>.\r\n\r\nTERESA LEBRUN<\/strong> (Costume Designer) is the resident costumer for the Hampton Theatre Company and has designed costumes for all the company\u2019s recent productions. Teresa has also costumed for Spindletop Productions at Guild Hall. Much love to her boys Josh and Noah.\r\n\r\nCHRISSIE DEPIERRO<\/strong> (Stage Manager). In her third season with HTC she steps into the shoes of stage manager. Many thanks to our unbelievably talented cast, director, lighting, set and costume designers. It\u2019s because of all of you that we make magic happen. To Matthew, Kristopher and Theresa, it\u2019s your never ending love and support that has made a dream come true.\r\n\r\nMARYAM (Rob) DOWLING<\/strong> (Lighting & Sound Technician) has done lighting and sound for 22 years with various theater groups on the East End. Maryam has also helped Sebastian with lighting setup at Guild Hall, the Ross School, and other local venues. This is Maryam\u2019s seventh season with the Hampton Theatre Company and she is very happy to be part of the show and the company.\r\n\n <\/div>\n

REVIEWS<\/a><\/p>\n

\n \t\r\n

Shadows in the Drawing Room<\/h3>\r\nby Bridget LeRoy\r\nThe East Hampton Star<\/strong>\r\nWritten by one of Great Britain\u2019s foremost men of letters, J.B. Priestley, \u201cAn Inspector Calls\u201d is the Hampton Theatre Company\u2019s first production of its 31st season, and a good choice it is. Full of profundity and more twists than a Bimini knot, the play is a riveting revival of an all-time classic.\r\nIn a nutshell, a mysterious police inspector shows up at the engagement dinner of an upper\u00ad class British family to interrogate everyone there, any one of whom, he explains, may have had a part, however small or seemingly insignificant, in the horrific suicide of a local girl.\r\n\r\nIf the play had ever been adapted into a Frank Capra movie, it might have been titled \u201cIt\u2019s a Horrible Life.\u201d If it were written today, it might be called simply \u201cKarma Is a Bitch.\u201d\r\nArthur and Sybil Birling, an industrialist and his wife in the fictional town of Brumley, are celebrating the engagement of their daughter, Sheila, to Gerald Croft, the son of Arthur\u2019s competitor. The Birlings\u2019 son, Eric, is also in attendance. At this point, the playwright could have easily set up a simple and fluffy drawing room comedy \u00e0 la Noel Coward \u2014 shallow self\u00ad-absorption clearly abounds in the Birling household.\r\n\r\nBut Priestley, who wrote \u201cAn Inspector Calls\u201d on the tailcoats of World War II, chose to set his work only a few days before the Titanic is scheduled to set sail. [HTC correction: The play is set on the evening that the Titanic sank.] Even though the ship is only mentioned in passing as a wonder of the age and \u201cabsolutely unsinkable,\u201d it sets the audience up to see that a catastrophe of mammoth proportions, however unrelated, lies ahead.\r\n\r\n\u201cKeep your head down and concentrate on your own business\u2026 every man for himself,\u201d Mr. Birling advises his future son-\u00adin-\u00adlaw, moments before the mysterious Inspector Goole shows up like an iceberg to crash the party.\r\n\r\nAnd to throw one more Titanic image into the mix, Sarah Hunnewell, the director, has steamlined \u2014 uh, streamlined \u2014 the script into a gripping two acts instead of the traditional three somewhat stodgy ones.\r\n\r\nThe inspector shows each person how the smallest unkindness can have huge repercussions on the life of a single individual. \u201cWe don\u2019t live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other,\u201d he tells them, the polar opposite of Mr. Birling\u2019s previous words.\r\nIt would have been a quaint little whodunit to simply end with everyone being involved, sort of a pint-\u00adsized \u201cMurder on the Orient Express.\u201d But there\u2019s more, and that is what gives \u201cAn Inspector Calls\u201d its power.\r\n\r\n\u201cI think the inspector did it,\u201d a woman behind us told her companion loudly in her best Lawn Guyland accent during the second act. My companion whispered, \u201cNot. Getting. It.\u201d\r\nThe cast is absolutely exemplary. Daren Kelly blusters like a puffed\u00ad up peacock as the head of household, Arthur Birling, a last bastion of male sacrosanctity who toasts to \u201clower costs and higher prices.\u201d Susan Galardi is completely believable as the matriarchal Sybil, the resentful high\u00ad class dowager queen who sticks to her guns until the very end. Amanda Griemsmann plays the engaged Sheila with a lovely sheen beneath the frippery, bringing enough humanism to her role to instill a hope for the \u201cfuture\u201d generation. As her fianc\u00e9, Anthony Famulari is able to subtly express his vulnerability while maintaining his aristocratic air. Spencer Scott, a newcomer to HTC, shows an impressive range as the quietly drunken son, Eric.\r\nAnd as the inspector, Edward Brennan nails it. He is able to chastise the family members for their awful behavior in a few words, while also managing to bring a certain lightness to the role, almost verging on the comedic.\r\n\r\nLighting, costumes, and sets by Sebastian Paczynski, Teresa LeBrun, and Peter\u00ad-Tolin Baker provide the perfect and sumptuous setting for the goings on, along with a somewhat surreal backdrop that adds to the discomfiture happening center stage.\r\n\r\n\u201cAn Inspector Calls\u201d has everything \u2014 first and foremost, a very strong production right here in Quogue, and second, a story with a fascinating layered and ambiguous meaning. But even more than that, the play itself has a rich history, with its first production not in London but in Leningrad. Priestley\u2019s socialist views were not popular with Winston Churchill and others sitting in the catbird seat, although the party line is that no theaters in the West End were available. When the show did premiere a year later in 1946, the cast included Ralph Richardson, Margaret Leighton, and Alec Guinness. Oh, to have been a member of that first audience!\r\n\r\nBut the past is done. Or is it? The next best thing is getting to Quogue to see \u201cAn Inspector Calls,\u201d at the Hampton Theatre Company through Nov. 8. And to remember the words of George Santayana, a contemporary of Priestley\u2019s, who reminded us that those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.\r\n

Theater Review: \u2018An Inspector Calls\u2019 Thrills in Quogue<\/h3>\r\nby Brendan O\u2019Reilly\r\nDan\u2019s Papers<\/strong>\r\nQuogue\u2019s Hampton Theatre Company has started off its 31st season strong with a suspenseful production of An Inspector Calls by British playwright J.B. Priestley.\r\nThough this social critique debuted 70 years ago, Priestley\u2019s indictment of the haut monde\u2019s indifference to the plight of the working class is as impactful and relevant as ever.\r\n\r\nTaking place in England at the home of the affluent and influential Birling family on April 15, 1912\u2014the night the Titanic sank\u2014An Inspector Calls opens pleasantly enough, as the family enjoys after-dinner drinks and toasts an engagement. Arthur Birling (Daren Kelly) and wife Sybil (Susan Galardi) are delighted their daughter, Sheila (Amanda Griemsmann), will marry Gerald Croft (Anthony Famulari), who himself is from a prosperous family. Their son, Eric, (Spencer Scott) is enjoying more drinks than he should, as he is wont to do.\r\n\r\nThe quiet evening is soon shaken up when the title character arrives to inquire about the suicide of a young woman. Immediately upon entry as the mysterious Inspector Goole, Edward Brennan commands the stage. Confident and purposeful, Goole is there for answers and it\u2019s clear he won\u2019t be going anywhere until he has them. But what could the Birlings and Gerald have to do with a woman who is beneath their station, and what could her suicide have to do with any of them? The audience sits rapt waiting to find out as Goole, in his deliberate and peculiar manner, subjects each individual, one-by-one, to an unsettling and accusatory line of questioning.\r\n\r\nAs much as the Birlings\u2014and the audience\u2014try to keep up, Goole always remains one step ahead, holding back what he knows until precisely the most impactful moment.\r\nAs the mystery unfolds, it\u2019s clear that Priestley has packaged a message in this play: Have compassion.\r\n\r\nGriemsmann excels as Sheila, who becomes the most visibly distraught Birling when it is her turn for Goole to give her a reality check. Brennan\u2019s performance makes it easy to root for Goole, even when the inspector is smug or borderline mean-spirited.\r\nDirector Sarah Hunnewell, rightly, kept An Inspector Calls taut, with no lulls once Goole steps on stage and no chance for interest to wane.\r\n\r\nThe set by designer Peter-Tolin Baker and decorator Diana Marbury is gorgeous and makes the Quogue stage seem so much larger than it is, drawing the audience into the Birling dining room as the family members are forced to take hard looks at themselves.\r\n

\u201cAn Inspector Calls\u201d review: Brit thriller in Quogue<\/h3>\r\nby Steve Parks\r\nNewsday<\/strong>\r\n“An Inspector Calls” opened in the Soviet Union in 1945 after producers were unable to find a suitable theater in the United Kingdom so soon after the surrender of Germany ended World War II in Europe. The irony of premiering in Moscow and Leningrad could hardly have escaped its author, English dramatist J.B. Priestley, whose political sympathies aligned with socialist causes.\r\n\r\nMistreatment of the proletariat by the privileged class becomes shockingly evident in this deft abridged version of Priestley’s best-known play, smartly directed by Sarah Hunnewell for the Hampton Theatre Company.\r\n\r\nWe meet the prosperous Birlings in their upper-class English dining room (Peter-Tolin Baker’s richly appointed set) on the occasion of their daughter’s engagement to a scion of another prominent family. Arthur, the Birling patriarch, speaks glibly of “peace and prosperity.” The time is 1912, before The Great War to End All Wars. They’ve barely finished their toasts when Inspector Goole is announced. Played by Edward Brennan with peremptory authority burnished by an accusatory glare, Goole is investigating the suicide of Eva Smith. He shows Eva’s photograph to each Birling and their prospective in-law. They all, apparently, played a role in circumstances that led to the working-class girl’s demise.\r\n\r\nArthur, played with imperious bluster by Daren Kelly, fired Eva in a labor dispute amounting to three shillings a week. She finds another job in a dress shop where bride-to-be Sheila got her fired over a misperceived slight. Next, it’s Gerald’s turn. Sheila’s fianc\u00e9 met Eva, aka Daisy, at a bar. Struck by her beauty, Gerald kept her as a mistress before breaking it off. Sybil, the matriarch, portrayed by Susan Galardi with the brittle entitlement of a woman whose social station outranks her husband’s, denied Eva the charity she desperately sought. Last to be interrogated is Eric, the Birlings’ youngest, whose drunken behavior was the final blow in their shared assault on Eva.\r\n\r\nBut is Goole who he appears to be? And have the Birlings learned any lessons? Certainly not the elders. But Amanda Griemsmann’s Sheila convinces us with tearful remonstrations that there’s hope for the younger generation. Gerald, still the hopeful suitor as played as Anthony Famulari, and even dissolute Eric (Spencer Scott) are resolutely remorseful.\r\n\r\nYet whenever you think you have it figured out, “Inspector” throws another curve.\r\n

\u201cAn Inspector Calls\u201d: A Sermon Served Straight By Hampton Theatre Company<\/h3>\r\nby Lorraine Dusky\r\nSouthampton Press and East Hampton Press<\/strong>\r\n\u201cSocialist British playwright\u201d as a crossword clue, nine letters, would yield up \u201cPriestley\u201d to the elder educated class, though younger puzzlers would likely be stumped.\r\n\r\nJ.B. Priestley\u2014journalist, novelist, playwright, broadcaster\u2014is not well known in America today, but was famous across the pond from the 1940s to the 1970s for his biting commentary on English society. Think Bernie Sanders penning an ostensibly polite drama about income inequity and you have the feel of Priestley\u2019s 1945 play, \u201cAn Inspector Calls,\u201d the Hampton Theatre Company\u2019s season opener at Quogue Community Hall, staging through November 8.\r\n\r\nSet in 1912\u2014the night before the Titanic sank and the dawn of \u201cDownton Abbey\u201d\u2014the play is a vehicle that examines the smooth and untroubled existence of a haute bourgeoisie British family unconcerned about those less fortunate. But their tranquil way of life is soon to be uprooted by the changing times, along with the rise of the labor movement.\r\n\r\nAs written, \u201cAn Inspector Calls\u201d is a well made psychological period piece that becomes a full-frontal attack on merchants and moguls today who won\u2019t raise, say, fast-food workers\u2019 salaries to $15 per hour. In Edwardian England, the demanded wage hike is from 22 to 25 shillings a week. Unthinkable!\r\n\r\nThe action unfolds in a fictitious town in northern England where the Birling family is celebrating the fortuitous engagement of daughter Sheila to the scion of an another even-more-successful manufacturing family, Gerald Croft, with toasts and plenty of pomp. Showcasing their good fortune, the men are in tails, the ladies in fancy dress.\r\n\r\nSuch a happy circumstance of this self-satisfied crew is brusquely interrupted by a mysterious detective, Inspector Goole, who bursts in to question them about the recent suicide of a young woman, Eva Smith\u2014she would be \u201cJane Doe\u201d in America.\r\n\r\nHer troubles began when the patriarch of the Birling clan, Arthur, sacked her from the factory for being one of the agitators for higher wages. Thus poor Eva falls on hard times and bad men before she drinks disinfectant and dies.\r\n\r\nBut who is this Inspector Goole? He isn\u2019t acting like a regular policeman, and how does he know so much about everyone? Did Eva really leave such a detailed diary that he claims to have found? And why is he so accusatory? None of them actually poured the cleaning fluid down Eva\u2019s throat. Is he real, or a specter\u2014a stray Ghost of Christmas Future who wandered in?\r\n\r\nIf you are looking for clues, note his name: Goole, pronounced \u201cghoul.\u201d Drink the postprandial port while ye may, but Goole\/Ghoul will get you. Before the final curtain, all will be implicated.\r\n\r\nThe drama itself has the subtlety of your neighbor\u2019s leaf blower when you are about to nap, but is given its due here with an exceptional production. Unlike the 1994 revival on Broadway, celebrated for its technical razzle-dazzle and accompanying music, this is the sermonizing play taken neat. But neat is not a bad word here. What we get is good theater without noisy bells and whistles.\r\n\r\nThe action in this whodunit unravels at the home of the Birling family, and set designer Peter-Tolin Baker has given us a drawing room to delight, with looming wooden rafters and majestic doors, lush red velvet and high-backed caned chairs, punctuated with a gilded telephone. A series of back-lit frames evokes family portraits, or second- or third-rate old masters. We\u2019ve come to expect handsome sets in Quogue; this one is especially swell.\r\n\r\nEdward A. Brennan, a steam engine of a man, is commanding and intimidating as Inspector Goole, weaving the threads of this family\u2019s responsibility for Eva\u2019s suicide. Susan Galardi is Sybil Birling, the haughty wife and mother; Amanda Griemsmann is Sheila Birling, the newly engaged daughter who turns out to have a moral center; Anthony Famulari is Gerald Croft as her betrothed; and Spencer Scott is the wastrel son.\r\n\r\nAll are excellent and work together well, but it is Daren Kelly as the smug and self-righteous Arthur Birling who dominates. Mr. Kelly has ample acting credits, from Broadway to film and television. Here he projects all the aplomb of a man hoping for a knighthood while skimping on the salaries of lowly factory workers. He convincingly spouts lines that could be written by Donald Trump about \u201chow a man has to look after himself\u201d rather than worry about the economic concerns of others. Everywhere you turn, Priestley\u2019s preachy socialism is leaking out of the script.\r\n\r\nWell, why not? Especially today, given the enormous financial inequities between master\/owner and employee\/peon, we could use some stiff medicine in our theater.\r\n\r\nThe play\u2019s history reflects the socialist theme. It was first produced in Russia in 1945 because, as the story goes, a theater could not be found in London and Priestley\u2019s Russian translator found suitable venues in Moscow and Leningrad. Did Stalin applaud? We\u2019ll never know, but it\u2019s a fair guess that the play cut too close to the bone for the British theater-going crowd of the era until it was done elsewhere. Londoners saw it the following year, and it came to Broadway in 1947 where it lasted less than three months. For a post-war crowd, it was probably too depressing.\r\n\r\nStephen Daldry\u2019s revival in the 1990s, both in London and then on Broadway, brought the play out of mothballs. With unions currently in deep decline, with economic disparity on the political radar, \u201cAn Inspector Calls\u201d has the same relevance it did when Priestley wrote it. Last month, BBC aired its 90-minute film version.\r\n\r\nYou\u2019ve got to hand it to director Sarah Hunnewell for staging a play that would make any of the one-percenters who might be in the audience here uncomfortable. She chose well.\r\n\r\nRemaining cast includes Chrissie DePierro as Edna, the maid. Costumes by Teresa LeBrun. Lighting by Sebastian Paczynski. Set d\u00e9cor by Diana Marbury.\r\n

Who-Done-It Turned Humanist Tale Lights Up The Quogue Stage<\/h3>\r\nby Beth Young\r\nEast End Beacon<\/strong>\r\nThe line between a criminal act and morally objectionable behavior can be a thin one, but the space surrounding that line is ripe for theater.\r\n\r\nThe Hampton Theatre Company\u2019s opening play of their 31st season, J.B. Priestley\u2019s \u201cAn Inspector Calls,\u201d makes great use of this rich territory, serving up a cautionary\u00a0story of\u00a0the interconnected web of humanity, disguised in a rich package of intrigue.\r\n\r\nAs the aristocratic Birling family sits down to celebrate the engagement of their daughter on an April evening in the British North Midlands in 1912, a police inspector with the improbable name of \u201cGoole\u201d\u00a0intrudes on their festivities with the tale of a young woman, Eva Smith, who has just that night killed herself by drinking a disinfectant, burning up her insides.\r\n\r\nInspector Goole seems, like Peter Falk\u2019s Columbo, to already know exactly what has happened. It\u2019s the coaxing out of confessions, the why-did-it, that keeps the audience in suspense in this well-crafted play, which seems to have benefited from director Sarah Hunnewell\u2019s work tightening up the script.\r\n\r\nIt turns out, we find, that every member of this little engagement party had played some role in Eva Smith\u2019s\u00a0death, and all turn in fine performances, obviously enjoying their roles.\r\n\r\nEdward A. Brennan, as Inspector Goole, is, well, ghoulish, with a stiff neck and his hands held almost locked against his sides, a penetrating stare boring through each member of the household in turn, each in succession even more afraid as he turns his eyes to them for questioning.\r\n\r\nThe family patriarch, Arthur Birling, played with aplomb by Daren Kelly, is a stiff industrialist, \u00a0with no apologies and no second thoughts for his actions in an every-man-for-himself world.\r\n\r\nHis wife Sybil, finely played with\u00a0haughty indigence by Susan Galardi, also has no apologies for anything she\u2019s done.\r\n\r\nIt\u2019s their children, the impressionable ones, who watch in horror as the story of\u00a0Ms. Smith\u2019s short and sad life unfolds. Each of them, in turn, seems to have become a different person over the course of the evening, as they each learn how\u00a0their own careless actions helped drive\u00a0Ms. Smith to her death.\r\n\r\nSheila Birling, played by Amanda Griemsmann, seems to become a ghost herself as she learns that her careless words to a shopkeeper had a role in Ms. Smith\u2019s death. At the start of the show, she seems a careless, flirty lass, but by the end she becomes\u00a0the conscience of this sad crew.\r\n\r\nHer new fianc\u00e9, Gerald Croft, played by Anthony Famulari, seems to age years in the telling of his role in Ms. Smith\u2019s suicide.\r\nSpencer Scott as Sheila\u2019s\u00a0younger brother Eric seems a carefree, wisecracking young man, but when he is revealed as a secret drunk with perhaps the largest secrets of all, his parents waste no time building a web of denial and excuses for his bad behavior.\r\n\r\nAll this intrigue and moralizing sounds heavy, but this play is really quite funny. It\u2019s funny because of the way we can clearly see the absurdity of all of our fragile conditions through the lens of theater \u2014 and how\u00a0we can all view poverty, social class, alcoholism and adultery through eyes clouded with denial when our own lives are thrown into the stakes.\r\n\r\nThe set is a great metaphor: cartoon-scale cornices hold up a house built on a lie, the doorway is like a huge coffin, oversized picture frames to the rear of the stage cast unseen ancestors\u2019 eyes on the action, the picture above the mantel isn\u2019t a picture at all but a huge frosted mirror, the oft-poured bottle of port on the center table overshadows the bottle of whiskey on a sideboard until\u00a0the characters turn to the side when the questioning gets rough.\r\n\r\nThe curtain opens to the chorus of \u201cRule, Britannia.\u201d \u00a0The story, like the mighty unsinkable Titanic, which sank on the evening the events of this play took place, is that of something too big to fail, something\u00a0which, in the end, couldn\u2019t help but be a victim of its own bravado.\r\n\r\nWe know how the story of the Titanic ended, but the\u00a0ending of this play\u00a0is just as suspenseful a life raft tale. It\u2019s well worth taking in.\r\n\r\n

AN INSPECTOR CALLS at The Hampton Theatre Company<\/h3>\r\nby Melissa Giordano\r\nBroadway World<\/strong>\r\n\r\nThe old English play An Inspector Calls<\/em> by J.B. Priestley has had an interesting, long journey. It was first performed in 1945 and then in the UK in 1946 with an opening on Broadway in 1947 that was, strangely, dubbed as “stale”. Over time, interestingly, it has become very successful even winning a couple of Tony awards for its 1994 Broadway revival. You will see why as The Hampton Theatre Company (HTC) has mounted a brilliant production of this riveting story.\r\n\r\nThe tale, set in 1912, centers on the prominent Birling family, headed by Arthur and Sybil, in what is supposed to be a joyous evening celebrating their daughter’s engagement. However, it turns into mayhem as a mysterious visitor knocks on the door.\r\n\r\nHTC’s incarnation, kicking off their 31st season, is excellently directed by Sarah Hunnewell and boasts a remarkable cast.\r\n\r\nEdward A. Brennan strongly portrays Inspector Goole, the one who interrupts the Birling’s festivities. Goole is there to interrogate the family in the death of a young woman named Eva (or, Daisy). Mr. Brennan also provides the majority of the laughs, though few, in a serious play. Inspector Goole doesn’t seem to call on the Birling’s to gather new information, but to draw out of them information he already knows; how they collectively yet indirectly contribute to Eva’s death.\r\n\r\nThis could be interpreted as a figurative clash between capitalism and socialism at the time effectively demonstrating Mr. Priestley’s Socialist criticism of the superficial selfishness and hypocrisy of the Capitalist society. For example, among other things, how daughter Sheila, splendidly portrayed by Amanda Griemsmann, got Eva fired from her job for petty, jealous reasons. Or Sybil, the head of a highly respected charity organization, portrayed by Susan Galardi, denying assistance to Eva because she deemed Eva not deserving. While the family is circuitously responsible for Eva’s death, they personify for Mr. Priestley a system that exploits helpless people.\r\n\r\nEveryone is the ensemble company is truly superb in their respective roles; particularly in the entrancing Act II where there are many twists and turn to this story.\r\nAnother highlight is Peter-Tolin Baker’s clever set. The evening takes place in the dining room of the Birling’s home. It is gorgeously decorated with a grand table, fireplace, and several posh chairs making the stage seem bigger than it really is. This is enhanced beautifully by Sebastian Paczynski’s lighting and Teresa LeBrun’s stunning costumes.\r\n\r\nAnd so, it seems the Hampton Theatre Company’s new season is off to a powerful start with An Inspector Calls<\/em>. A riveting story and a stellar cast make for a wonderful night of theatre.\r\n\r\n\n <\/div>\n

AUDIENCE COMMENTS<\/a><\/p>\n

\n \t\r\nThe show was a delight and its message couldn’t be more meaningful. \u00a0Fine acting and great set.\r\n– Annette Green<\/strong>\r\n\r\nThe show was superb in all aspects: story and adaptation; acting; stage setting and lighting.\r\n– Fred Molod<\/strong>\r\n\r\nI loved the play. Great acting.\u00a0Thanks.\r\n– Priscilla Pochna<\/strong>\r\n\r\nWe loved the play – and everything about it. It was a perfect choice, the actors were all fantastic, the set wonderful and the director did a first rate job. Thank you, Sarah, for making first rate theater happen out here for so many years.\r\n– Penny Wright, Rogers Memorial Library<\/strong>\r\n\r\nLoved the show. Invited two friends to spur their interest and they were delighted. Of course, I spread the word in WhB and Remsenburg and beyond. We are so lucky to have you.\u00a0 Thank you.\r\n– Carol Gristina<\/strong>\r\n\r\nExcellent play. Acting was great. Staging was good. Price was right. We will be back again and again.\r\n– Susan Sheftick<\/strong>\r\n\r\nExcellent show!!! We were fortunate enough to see it yesterday. Be sure to get your tickets. It’s a must see!!\r\n– Michele Kropp<\/strong>\r\n\r\nI loved the show.\u00a0 Keep on providing this wonderful entertainment experience.\r\n– Terry Gioia<\/strong>\r\n\r\nOur group of seven all loved the show and agreed it was one of the best plays we have seen in a long time. We really enjoyed the performance, and the performers were absolutely MARVELOUS!!!! Looking forward to the next play.\r\n– Betty Entress<\/strong>\r\n\r\nGreat job with the play…. Libby and I very much enjoyed it – and it was good seeing you. \u00a0Still trying to figure out the ending….. Oh well!!!!\r\n– Don Steckler<\/strong>\r\n\r\nMy friend and I want you to know we think this play was the best we’ve seen in a long time. We absolutely loved it. \u00a0We think it is a Morality Play and we have fun trying to decide who the Inspector really is. Our plaudits to all of you.\r\n– Ridgie Barnett<\/strong>\r\n\r\nGreat show – we really enjoyed it!!!!! Everyone around us loved it as well!!\r\n– Joe Pallister<\/strong>\r\n\r\nYes, I really did enjoy the show. It was very well done and all the actors did a great job. Congratulations! Many thanks to you all.\r\n– Diana Malcolmson<\/strong>\r\n\r\nJust wanted to let you know that my husband and I and my cousins had a wonderful time at the show on Sunday.\u00a0 This is the second show that we have seen at your theater. The show was professional and we felt like we were at a Broadway show. \u00a0I already told a few of my friends about the play and we will definitely be going to the other shows that you have scheduled this year.\u00a0 Thanks again for having these great productions.\r\n– Janet Feeney<\/strong>\r\n\r\nJust want to tell you that I\u2019ve been wanting to attend your theater productions for quite some time now, but just never got there. \u00a0Well, I saw your show this past Sunday. \u00a0What a treat! \u00a0Everything was wonderful. \u00a0You certainly have a talented production crew, lovely theater, and the actors\u2026unbelievable! \u00a0I look forward to many future shows. \u00a0Thank you for having such a terrific venue so close to home! \u00a0(I live in Westhampton Beach.)\r\n– Diane Farnum<\/strong>\r\n\r\nLove this play! Incredible performances all around!\r\n– Tom Kochie<\/strong>\r\n\r\n“An Inspector Calls” is at once a psychological thriller and a morality play. It is as fine a performance as I could imagine of a very underappreciated writer. The cast is fantastic. This is ensemble performance at its best. Edward Brennan is commanding as Inspector Goole. Kudos to Sarah Hunnewell and all involved.\r\n– Fred Volkmer<\/strong>\r\n\r\nOne of HTC’s truly great productions! A superb cast as well as a beautiful set. Glued to your seats. Don’t miss this one!!\r\n– Donald Gruhn<\/strong>\r\n\r\nCongratulations, congratulations, congratulations on a wonderful performance. What a great production\u2026 Really impressed by the show, the production values, the play, the performances.\r\n– James Fox<\/strong>\r\n\r\nAbsolutely loved the play An Inspector Calls…saw it Sunday, November 1. The acting was just perfect. I wanted to jump up to give a standing ovation…just should have done it on my own…sorry I did not. Please pass along how riveting I felt the show was. I hung on every word. It is one of my favorite shows to date (but there have been so many “favorites”). Thank you!\r\n– Judith Pfister<\/strong>\r\n\r\nWas fabulous!!!\r\n– Mary I. Hull<\/strong>\r\n\r\nI did enjoy the production very much and will spread the word.. Great to have this theatre.\r\n– Fran Burns<\/strong>\r\n\r\nanother great production we enjoyed.\r\n– Ken Jacoppi<\/strong>\r\n\r\nTotally fun and riveting. Thanks for all the superb acting and a still timely play.\r\n– Beth Barth<\/strong>\r\n\r\nWonderful Show. Edward A. Brennan as Inspector Goole was awesome. He has a great smile\/smirk that he kept through out the show. And the twist at the end (no spoiler alert here, lol) is excellently done. My husband and I have enjoyed many performances at the Hampton Theatre Company for 20 years. Thank you for another outstanding show.\r\n– Joan Pratz<\/strong>\r\n\r\nWhile all of the actors in this Broadway-bound production are top-notch, Ed Brennan is absolutely mesmerizing as the Inspector. The tension onstage is palpable. Kudos to director Sarah Hunnewell! We really enjoyed this show and highly recommend it to others.\r\n– Pat Killian<\/strong>\r\n\r\nWe really enjoyed this show. It called to mind “A Christmas Carol”, and just as a “Christmas Carol” has remained so timely since it was first produced, so to does “An Inspector Calls” remain very relevant in today’s world. The actors were wonderful and, as always, the direction and the production were top-notch! Thank you for such a perfect choice for the coming Holiday Season.\r\n– Marilyn Foster Nemec<\/strong>\r\n\r\nIt was a delightful experience. I will tell my friends.\r\n– Kathleen Powers<\/strong>\r\n\r\nThe acting was outstanding but I’m still trying to figure out the ending!\r\n– Helen Houdek<\/strong>\r\n\r\nI really enjoyed your latest performance of “An Inspector Calls”. It was very well acted and I could understand every word of dialogue even from way back in the theatre. Keep up the good work and I now look forward to the next production!!\r\n– Mary Ellen Deduck<\/strong>\r\n\r\nMy wife and I greatly enjoy your productions. The quality equals or betters many New York City performances, in my opinion. The stage scenery is always very good, too. We are hoping that, eventually, Hampton Theater Company will expand production to 6 plays per year. Thank you.\r\n– Greg Mercurio<\/strong>\r\n\r\nWe thoroughly enjoyed the performance yesterday — all six of us!\r\n– Cathy Schwartz<\/strong>\r\n\r\nThe show was fantastic, I really enjoyed it.\r\n– Jennifer Duque<\/strong>\r\n\r\nAnother wonderful production with an excellent cast and great set. It was a well paced suspenseful play with many unexpected twists and revelations. How fortunate we are to have your very professional theatre company which consistently offers quality performances. Thank you.\r\n– Beverly Geiger<\/strong>\r\n\r\nIt was wonderful, and I have spread the word. \u00a0You all are wonderful, we are so lucky to have the theatre! \r\n– Susan Devinney<\/strong>\r\n\r\nVincent and I enjoyed the performance of \u201cAn Inspector Calls.\u201d\u00a0One of our favorites.\u00a0 The performers were excellent and the stage set up was beautiful.\u00a0 We are looking forward to the next performance coming up. \r\n– Jenny Filingeri<\/strong>\r\n\r\nLoved An Inspector Calls. Of course I always enjoy going to your theater! \r\n– Ray Evans<\/strong>\r\n\r\nwhat a wonderful show….well done….everyone was talking about it. \r\n– Billy Paterson<\/strong>\r\n\r\nWe so enjoyed our evening at the theater watching “an inspector calls ” great to watch well acted and written theater \u00a0… It was a real treat for us coming from sag harbor well worth it and we brought two friends that have never been to your plays before but say they will be back as I will as well . Thank you for all your effort\u2026 it’s so entertaining and fun \u2026 \r\n– Linley Whelan<\/strong>\r\n\r\nGreat show enjoyed by us four. Acting was terrific and the twist at the end was a pleasant surprise. So, looking forward to the rest. \u00a0Wonderful to have a small theater with so much talent so close by.\r\n– Joan and Ken Maher<\/strong>\r\n\r\nYou did a phenomenal job, as always.\u00a0 Thank you so much for your hard and devotion to this Theater Company. \r\n– Chris LaGuardia<\/strong>\r\n\r\nWe loved the show, and I spoke with the director, so she would understand how much we enjoyed the production. \r\n– Charles & Ellen Fishman, Howard & Nahid Rachlin<\/strong>\r\n\r\nGreat show! \r\n– Mark Catalano<\/strong>\r\n\r\nThoroughly enjoyed the play. The actors were perfect and we especially love Inspector Ghoul! \r\n– John Strong<\/strong>\r\n\r\nI enjoyed \u201cInspector” very much! Very good acting (obviously astute directing) & beautiful sets as always. I brought three friends, new to the Hampton Theater Company. They were delighted with the play & its intrigues. I appreciate your efforts very much! \r\n– Larry Liddle<\/strong>\r\n\r\nOne of the best. Congratulations. \r\n– Jim Boyle<\/strong>\r\n\r\nJust wanted to say that I really enjoyed the show and the hospitality of the people working there. The chocolate chip cookie were amazing also….\r\n– Kathleen Castro<\/strong>\r\n\r\nI thoroughly enjoyed this choice of play and casting. A social commentary and most entertaining! Loved the surprise ending. \r\n– Susan Bailey<\/strong>\r\n\r\nMy husband Bill and I attended the play last Friday evening.\u00a0 The cast was amazing, the set was perfect, and the content of the play was brilliant!\u00a0 We found your production as professional \u00a0as anything we have ever seen on Broadway.\u00a0 We love The Quogue Community Theatre, please don\u2019t stop doing what you do!! Enthusiastically. \r\n– Susan Siegel<\/strong>\r\n\r\nTwo friends and I saw this show this past Sunday.\u00a0 It was absolutely fabulous!\u00a0 I retired to the Hamptons five years ago after living and working in NYC for 40 years.\u00a0 While a Manhattan resident I saw Broadway and off-Broadway shows weekly and the calibre of shows that you have been putting on for the past few years are as good or better than some of the B’way shows I saw. Keep up this wonderful record!! \r\n– Judith Bacher<\/strong>\r\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n\r\n\r\n\n\t\t