A.C.T.'s The Government Inspector Closes to Full House

While leaving the Geary Theater at the end of a successful run of Gogol’s timeless masterpiece, one could overhear some viewers’ remarks like, “It could have been a serious play, should they consider those poor peasants and the police brutality…” Tz-tz-tz, one would think at that. As always, a uniquely Russian genius has been misunderstood. Dear enlightened theatergoers, I have a revelation to make: there were too many serious writers trying to approach the abyss of moral and physical abuse pertinent to the very existence of Mother Russia. Do you read their tomes, can you sit through their endless monologues? What happened to all of them, those who tried to shed some light on the darkest collective soul in the world? Most went through jails, madhouses, exile. Some were killed, some killed themselves. Some still live in CliffsNotes, some are gone and forgotten. Nikolai Gogol, on the other hand, spent most of his short life running away from his Motherland, and pursuing happiness elsewhere, yet he managed to write “an encyclopedia of Russian life”—“Dead Souls.” Almost two centuries later, it is still the funniest, the cleverest, the wittiest read of the day. (Don’t take my word for it, go get the full text in your local library and see for yourself). You are still filling the audience and laugh to tears to his “Revizor” (The Government Inspector), and therefore you care. The genius of Gogol was in that he realized that too much suffering makes humans numb, and the absurdity of stupid, torturous, unfair, painful life could only be addressed through satire. He delivered the message by his own unique means, and the message still resounds. (Not that the messenger ended up a happy camper, no… But that’s another story). The best thing about the A.C.T.’s production is casting, with Gregory Wallace—funny, nuanced, and genuine in the role of Khlestakov, and Graham Beckel (The Mayor) hapless, headless, yet amusingly authoritative by pure means of power mongering. Translated and adapted by Alistair Beaton, the show has been directed by the A.C.T.’s Artistic Director, Carey Perloff. Coming up at A.C.T.: “Curse of the Starving Class" by Sam Shepard, directed by Peter DuBios, April 25-May 25. Box office is located at 405 Geary St., SF. 415-749-2228.