Reviewed by Tony Annicone
The first show of Theatre Works season is the British drama, "An Inspector Calls". A young girl commits suicide and a respectable family is interrogated by an inspector. The happy family gathering is shattered and their true selfish behavior is revealed. There are many twists and turns in this show to keep the audience guessing until the curtain falls.Set in 1912, the play's message about caring for your fellow human beings, is very strong and poigant today especially with the current American tragedy of 2001.
Director Marge Conte and her cast of seven move the show along its mysterious path wonderfully. The questioning of the characters is interesting and you find out their hidden feelings. You also see if they have learned anything by this tragic turn of events or will they still remain the smug, selfish people they have always been. The gorgeous Victorian set and the beautiful costumes by Marge make this show visually exciting to watch, too. Her stage manager, Paul Adam keeps things in order onstage and backstage and her producer, Janet Cournoyer keeps things running smoothly in an organized manner, helping Marge to have a successful show.
Joseph Carlone and Carol Varden play the snobby British parents, Arthur and Sybil Birling. Joseph's pompous, know it all, talking machine father is only interested in the social status of his family. He makes this bumbling character, a reminder of how a father shouldn't behave towards his children. Carol, a fine character actress, also captures the air of superiority and tries to put one over on the Inspector. She stands up to him and uses a commanding tone of voice to accomplish it. The Inspector sees through both parents behavior and they are shown to be cruel people. Both Joseph and Carol show their change of moods by their line delivery and facial expressions, keeping their characters interesting to watch.
The younger people in this show are played by Josh Smith and Amy St. Pierre as siblings,Erik and Sheila Birling. They start off as happy go lucky and end up learning their lesson by show's end. Josh shines in his first major role on stage with great projection and wonderful diction. His line delivery and stage movements are very natural and done with the ease of a veteran performer. Amy, a pretty redhead, makes the constantly giddy, Sheila grow into a caring person when she finds out about her involvement with the dead girl. She makes the transition wonderfully, showing the different acting levels in her role. Amy stands up to her parents and her fiancee's bad behavior and they receive theirs at the close of the evening.
Gregory Bonin as Gerald Croft, Sheila's fiancee and Laurence Cagle as Inspector Goole deliver strong performances. Greg makes the rich fiancee into a real human being when he shows the warmth he felt for the dead girl's plight. Gerald helped her out in her time of need. Greg also shows the other side of Gerald. He hasn't learned anything after the interrogation and becomes as uncaring as Sheila's parents. Lawrence handles the questioning of the others perfectly. His rapid fire delivery induces them to confess their misdeeds. Lawrence handles his scenes with ease and keeps the action of this show moving. He also delivers the line about caring for each other with is an important lesson to be learned by one and all. Rounding out the talented cast is 15 year old Allison Cournoyer as Edna, the maid. So for an evening of mysterious goings on in England in 1912 go to "An Inspector Calls".