J.B. Priestley’s play takes place on a single night in April 1912,focussing on the prosperous Birling family,who live in a comfortable home in the fictional industrial town of Brumley in the north Midlands. The family is visited by a man calling himself Inspector Goole (Tony Wood), who questions them about the suicide of a young working-class woman in her mid-twenties. Each member of the family is revealed to have a part in the girl’s life. Then there’s a twist at the end…
J.B. Priestley is our most-performed author. Julie Wood produces, and Vivien Stuart directs. Sean and Michael Frain were new entrants this year, and Chris Andersson was welcomed back
Director Vivien Stuart had recently seen an inspiring interpretation, from which she took the idea of having people in a street scene outside the Birlings’ house. She’d also seen an effect of rain falling…. the stage crew tried replicating this with a pipe with holes in it, but it was a disaster and was never used!
