The Government Inspector brought laughter, amusement and confusion to its audience on the play’s opening night Thursday.
Ohio University’s College of Fine Arts put on its first play of Spring Semester with almost all the seats filled in the theater for the debut of The Government Inspector.
The satirical play was written by Russian-Ukrainian novelist Nikolai Gogol originally published in 1836. When the citizens of a small Russian village learn an undercover government inspector is coming for a surprise visit, an unfortunate case of mistaken identity sends the village into a frenzy of complications.
Carl Scott, a freshman studying education, was pleasantly surprised with how The Government Inspector turned out.
“The play was a lot more entertaining than I thought it was going to be,” Scott said. “It was so hilarious, I didn’t think I would laugh so much.”
Scott was required to attend a showing for one of his classes but recommends that anybody who wants a good laugh should come out and see The Government Inspector.
“I don’t go to a lot of these things because most of the time they’re boring,” he said. “But this play was super good, so you definitely can’t judge a book by its cover in this instance.”
The play satirized human greed, stupidity and the extensive political corruption of Imperial Russia in a way that the audience was able to take lightheartedly and find themselves laughing at the characters’ actions.
“The actors knew what they were doing and played their parts well,” Scott said. “They made The Government Inspector a lot more enjoyable to watch.”
The Government Inspector will have performances Friday, Saturday and from March 6 to March 9. The Saturday show will begin at 2 p.m. while the other shows will begin at 8 p.m. in Kantner Hall. The show is free to all OU students with student IDs, $10 for adults and $7 for other students and seniors.
The Government Inspector is a play worth watching, Scott said. It’s the ones that surprise you that turn out to be the most fun and interesting.
Maggie Cho, a freshman studying accounting, also recognized the amount of work the actors put into the show.
“There was a lot going on and it was all really well put-together, especially for the opening night,” Cho said. “I’m not really into plays, but this one was so weird and interesting. I’d say it was worth my time.”
Cho found The Government Inspector to be quite surprising and expected it be somewhat like the movie Pink Panther based off of what the play entailed. Despite The Government Inspector not relating to the Pink Panther, Cho was still able to find the play entertaining.
To Spencer Evans, a freshman studying business management, the play seemed like it was going to be a straight up mystery.
“The entire time I was guessing who the real government inspector was. It was so crazy,” Evans said. “I wasn’t expecting the play to be like that at all, but I’m glad it was so entertaining to come see.”
