Independent Players to present Gogol satire, 'The Government Inspector'

What happens when an unlucky nobody is mistaken for a powerful Russian government official by a group of corrupt small town officials? Discover one of the most brilliantly satirical answers to that gnawing question when Independent Players presents Nikolai Gogol's "The Government Inspector" Fridays and Saturdays, April 22-23, 29-30, and May 6-7, at the Elgin Art Showcase, 164 Division St., Elgin.

Curtain time is 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20; senior citizens and students (ages 14-21) are $15. Tickets can be purchased online at www.independentplayers.org (credit card) and at the door prior to each performance (cash/check only). For information or reservations, call (847) 697-7374.

Originally published in 1836, "The Government Inspector" was based upon an anecdote allegedly recounted to Gogol by the great Russian novelist (and Gogol's personal friend) Alexander Pushkin. Gogol attempted to write a satirical play about imperial bureaucracy in 1832, but abandoned it for fear of censorship. He then wrote to Pushkin seeking inspiration for a new satirical play in the form of "an authentically Russian anecdote." Pushkin had a storied background and was once mistaken for a government inspector, so he wrote back: "Krispin arrives in the Province ... he is taken for an official ... The governor is an honest fool - and the governor's wife flirts with Krispin who then woos the mayor's daughter."

These are the basic story elements of "The Government Inspector," Gogol's comic masterpiece. It is a comedy of errors, satirizing human greed, stupidity, narcissism and the extensive political corruption of Imperial Russia.

So, why then is "The Government Inspector" - surely one of the most Russian examples of Russian culture - such a universal play?

According to Jeffrey Hatcher, whose adaptation of the original Russian classic in 2008 premiered at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, "Russia has produced great artists," - writers such as Tolstoy, Chekhov and Dostoevsky, composers such as Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich and Stravinsky, to name a few - "but it's been argued that the reason why Russia and its people have always felt a bit backward in comparison with their more cosmopolitan counterparts in Paris, London and Vienna is because the Renaissance and the Enlightenment skipped them completely. Nobody came to give them the word.

"This tends to be blamed on the country's vast expanses and terrible weather - destiny as defined by geography and mud," Hatcher continued. "This may explain why Russia, be it Tsarist, Soviet, or Putinesque has such a wobbly respect for good government, civic standards and the law, and why the West has always looked down its nose at Russia, regardless the charms of Dostoevsky, 'The Nutcracker' and Mrs. Khruschev's sense of style. In one sense, it's the classic case of a very original and specific idea - a hapless nobody is mistaken for a powerful government official by a group of corrupt, small town officials. But it is also because its characters are so recognizable to any person in any country in any age who has attended a city council meeting, met a contractor, or had an inflated opinion of himself."

Second time's the charm

"The Government Inspector" has special significance to Independent Players. On the night before Independent Players was set to begin its second weekend of "The Government Inspector" performances in March 2020, the theater group received an email informing it that the Elgin Art Showcase was closed indefinitely due to the pandemic. The disappointed cast and crew decided unanimously to revive the production when the pandemic subsided.

More than two years later, much has changed. Eight of the original cast members were unable to return for the revival, due to career changes and new health issues, but the leads are back.

Joining the original cast members - Steve Connell, Steve Delaney, Marilyn House, Gabor Mark, Beth McDonald, Jim Pierce and Dana Udelhoven - are Karen Greuel, Alison Hage, Matt Hordyke, Mathias Mapes, Scot Savage, Laura Schaefer, Holly Sloan and Rebecca Stellato.

According to director Don Haefliger, anyone who saw the production in 2020 and returns to see it again now will experience a show that has noticeably evolved in the past two years.