Will there ever be a time, either in 1836 or 2025, that honest politicians are not an oxymoron. Unfortunately, in villages, cities, states and even countries leaders in charge of how a community is directed can often ignore laws and democracy and overlook the needs of its citizens, to enrich their own pockets. For a comic lesson in bad politics, look no further than the Yale Repertory Theatre's current adaptation of Nikolai Gogol's “The Inspector” until Saturday, March 29 in New Haven. Adapted and directed by Yura Kordonsky, it proves that communities anywhere in the world can be duped and deceived by the corrupt people in charge.
In a remote Russian village in 1836, the mayor and his cronies have been cheating the citizenry successfully for decades. Imagine then their utter dismay when thanks to the snoopping of the Postmaster, they learn a government inspector from St. Petersburg is traveling to their town incognito to evaluate their financial deeds. Since these civil servants are incompetent thieves bankrupting their town; they have every reason to be frightened their scams and fraud will be uncovered.
What lies must they concoct and what lengths must they manufacture to conceal their dishonesty? Led by Brandon F. Burton’s mayor and his family, Elizabeth Stahlmann’s wife Anna and Chinna Palmer’s daughter Maria, the plot thickens as the snow falls deeper and deeper, With the help of briberies from the town leaders, the Public Health Director Whitney Andrews, the Postmaster Annelise Lawson, the School Superntendent John Evans Reese. the Judge Darius Sakui, and the Doctor Grayson Richmond, with the added help of Piotr Ivanovich Bobchinky’s Edoardo Benzoni and Piotr Ivanovich Dobchinsky's Malik James who may be related, the town is in cahoots to deceive the inspector and save their reputation without jail time. Their plot might have succeeded if Samuel Douglas’s Ivan Khlestakov and his aide Nome SiDone’s Osip were actually the Inspector.
Chaos and confusion reign as the teams of con men actually deceive each other while rogue rats and mice and associated animals roam the town causing pandemonium. For tickets ($15-65), call the Yale Rep, 1120 Chapel Street, New Haven at 203-432-1234 or online at yalerep.org. Performances areTuesday at 8 p.m., Wednesday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., Thursday act 8 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., and Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Free shows for high school students will take place at 10 a.m. March 25 and 26.
Come visit the dark but funny side of humanity where the fear of being discovered promotes the art of the fraud to a new level of deception.
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