An Inspector Calls at Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff – review

Thanks to Wales Millennium Centre for providing us with review tickets to An Inspector Calls

Usually when I come home from a press night at the theatre, I get straight on with writing my review. But not last night. After watching An Inspector Calls at Cardiff’s Wales Millennium Centre I went down a rabbit hole of reading about the characters, the significance of certain moments, the themes and different theories as to what it all means. It’s one of those productions you’ll be thinking about long after the curtain falls.

First staged in 1945, JB Priestley’s play An Inspector Calls has been selling out theatres for more than 80 years. It’s been a GCSE staple for decades – my husband studied it way back in the mid-1990s and it’s still a popular text today as evidenced by the bus-loads of teenagers at last night’s performance. This was my first time watching the play (for various reasons, the stars have never aligned for me when it’s been in Cardiff previously so I was thrilled to finally witness it for myself), alongside my 13 year old son. And what an introduction to the classic crime thriller we had.

Stephen Daldry’s multi award-winning National Theatre production – which has so far been seen by more than five million theatregoers – is tense and atmospheric. As the curtains open, a couple of small children, dressed in ragged clothes, enter from the auditorium. Rain pours on the stage. Fog surrounds the characters. The lighting is dark and moody, with music to match.

As the prosperous Birling family celebrate the engagement of daughter Sheila to Gerald Croft, the mysterious Inspector Goole knocks at the door with news of the suicide of a young woman. We slowly learn how each of the characters had a part to play in her tragic story – with some more willing to accept the consequences of their behaviour than others.

The drama unfolds in and around a grand Edwardian house, which balances precariously above the stage, the building looking down on the lower classes as much as the characters do. Running at 1 hour and 50 minutes, and with no interval, the audience are kept on edge throughout, as the twists in the story keep on coming.

The cast are all exceptional. Tim Treloar’s Inspector Goole is tense as he stands at the side of the stage and unsettling as each character’s story unfolds. The tension is broken on occasions with little touches of humour, Goole’s Welsh accent and the odd ‘diolch yn fawr’ and ‘nos da’ which the Cardiff audience understandably love.

Philip Stewart plays Mr Birling tonight (Jeffrey Harmer for the rest of the run) and Jackie Morrison is Mrs Birling. Both give strong performances of two very frustrating and arrogant characters. Leona Allen as Sheila and George Rowlands as her brother Eric give a lot of depth as they realise their faults – although the same sadly can’t be said for philandering fiancé Gerald (Tom Chapman).

The age guidance is 8+ and although there’s nothing content-wise that is unsuitable, there is a lot of dialogue and plot lines, which some younger children may find difficult to follow. For teens and older tweens though, it’s brilliantly thought-provoking.

My 13 year old had so many questions and theories on the way home and said for the school groups who were there last night, it must have really brought their studies to life and will give them plenty of exam inspiration. Whether or not he gets to study An Inspector Calls himself, he’s certainly learned a lot about class, gender and generational divisions and how – sadly – when it comes to certain demographics being let down by society, little has changed in the last hundred or so years.

An Inspector Calls is at Wales Millennium Centre until Saturday 22 February with performances at 7.30pm and 2.30pm on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.
Running time is 1 hour 50 minutes. Age guidance is 8+, with no admission to under 2s.
Tickets are still available, priced from £16. Limited availability at some performances.
Book online here.