College drama class stage Russian comedy in Druid

Date Published: {J}

Druid Theatre is the venue when Galway Community College Post Leaving Cert Performance Class present their annual drama production next Wednesday and Thursday, February 10 and 11 at 8pm. The group will be performing Gogol’s The Government Inspector, adapted by Alistair Beaton.

The Government Inspector is a comedy of errors, which hinges on a case of mistaken identity and which exposes the greed, stupidity and corruption in 19th century Tsarist Russia.

The fun begins when Khlestakov,a lowly young civil servant from Saint Petersburg is mistaken by the community of a small provincial town for a high-ranking government inspector. The town’s governor and officials are terrified that the ‘government inspector’ will observe the extent of their corruption.

Initially Khlestakov is unaware that he has been mistaken for somebody else, but when he realises it, he takes advantage of the situation.

He moves in as a guest in the governor’s house, while demanding and receiving massive ‘loans’ from the town fathers. He also flirts outrageously with the governor wife and daughter. After proposing to the governor’s daughter, Khlestakov flees before his true identity is discovered. However, the townspeople only realise they have made a mistake moments before the real government inspector is due to arrive.

This is funny fast-paced production with lots of mime, movement and parody. Its characters are unusual, loud, bombastic, clown like and exaggerated. The cast is made up of talented theatre performance students from the college, who hail from Galway, Mayo and surrounding counties.

“This adaptation will showcase the abundance of talented students that we have enrolled this year,” says course co-ordinator Lorraine O’Hara, who directs the performance. “Each year the students who come through the college just seem to get better and better,” she adds. “Many of them go on to further study, and all of them leave the college with higher performing confidence, advanced skills and loads of stage exposure.”

The group is delighted to be performing in the renowned Druid Theatre and she says “we are all very excited about this prospect”.

Tickets for The Government Inspector are €10. For bookings and information contact The Galway Community College on (091) 755464.