6 May 2025
I like my comedy fairly broad, physical and lowbrow – and this handsomely staged production of Nikolai Gogol’s classic Russian-Ukrainian satire on small town corruption by former RSC chief Gregory Doran, hits the comedy bullseye. What a great start to the 2025 season at Chichester Festival Theatre – it literally had me rolling in the aisle.
Written 190 years ago and still set in in 1836, but updated in a fabulously fruity new adaptation (“twatting about” stands out as a favourite 21st century line) by Phil Porter, the corrupt, inept and bumbling bureaucrats of a small provincial town fly into a blind panic when they hear about an impending visit by a Russian government inspector from St Petersberg.
Led by the brutal, Trumpian Mayor (a magnificent Lloyd Hutchinson), an Alpha make bully who carries out floggings without trial and says any nonsense to get his way (“She flogged herself,” he says of a woman attempting to report the lashings he inflicted on her), the corrupt officials and dignitaries from the snooping Postmaster who opens other people’s mail to the Head of Schools and The Chief of Police who takes bribes – soon latch on to a stranger staying at the local inn, believing him to be the dreaded official. But is this penniless nicompoop led by his libido (played with vim and elan by Tom Rosenthal of Friday Night Dinner fame) all that they think he is?
Every character gets their moment in the sun to shine and the actors seize on the comic business, pratfalls and zingers with relish.
As Bobchinsky and Dobchinksky, social climbing identical twins whose stories are long-winded, constantly triyng to upstage each other, Miltos Yerolemou and Paul Rider are a constant joy as a Tweedle-Dum and Tweedle-Dee pairing, while Sylvestra Le Touzel channels Molly Sugden as Mrs Slocomb from Are You Being Served as the haughty, over sexed mayor’s wife.
The story was clearly “borrowed” by John Cleese and Connie Booth for their now legendary ‘The Hotel Inspectors’ episode of Fawlty Towers – and why not?
With Francis O’Connor’s delightfully rustic stage design featuring a town of snow-capped bureaucratic bulging filing cabinets, I could see this production sitting well on the Olivier stage at the National Theatre.
Highly recommended if you need your funny bone tickled.
