02-05-2025
The Government Inspector review — a Gogol revival with slapstick
It's almost as if panto season has arrived early at Chichester Festival Theatre. Gregory Doran's revival of Gogol's comedy of mistaken identity and everyday graft in Tsarist Russia is brash, hectic and awash with old school slapstick. Phil Porter's fruity adaptation isn't afraid to toss in slivers of Carry On humour as well, nor can you help noticing that Sylvestra Le Touzel's lubricious mayor's wife speaks in the same suggestive tones as Mollie Sugden's department store harridan in the vintage sitcom Are You Being Served?
The comedians Rik Mayall and Julian Barratt have been drafted in to spice up the central role in past productions. This time the honour falls to the stand-up comedian Tom Rosenthal, star of the TV shows Plebs and Friday Night
