'An Inspector Calls' Opens in Quogue
An Inspector Calls, the classic 1945 British thriller by J.B. Priestley, opens Thursday night at Quogue Community Hall, kicking off Hampton Theatre Company’s 31st season.
The play takes place in England on a single evening, April 15, 1912, the same night the Titantic sank. The mysterious Inspector Goole drops in on the prosperous Birling family, claiming to be investigating the suicide of a young woman. Goole’s questioning sheds light on incriminating information and shatters the Birlings’ family tranquility.
“The play is accusatory, tense and filled with the playwright’s scathing commentary on the hypocrisies of Victorian/Edwardian British society,” according to Hampton Theatre Company.
Hampton Theater Company executive director Sarah Hunnewell directs this production, which streamlines An Inspector Calls to be taut, fast-paced and gripping.
Edward Brennan, who most recently appeared with Hampton Theater Company in The Drawer Boy, plays Inspector Goole. Arthur Birling is played by Hampton Theater Company newcomer Daren Kelly, whose credits include the Broadway productions of Deathtrap, Crazy For You and South Pacific.
Susan Galardi makes her Hampton Theater Company debut in the role of family matriarch Sybil Birling. Amanda Griemsmann and Anthony Famulari, who appeared last spring in Hampton Theater Company’s Hay Fever, play the young couple Sheila Birling and Gerald Croft. Hampton Theater Company newcomer Spencer Scott plays the Birlings’ troubled son Eric.
Set design is by Peter-Tolin Baker; lighting design is by Sebastian Paczynski. Teresa LeBrun is the costume designer and set decor is by Diana Marbury.
An Inspector Calls opens on October 22 and runs through November 8 at the Quogue Community Hall on Jessup Avenue in Quogue. Showtimes are Thursdays and Fridays at 7 p.m., Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $30 for general admission, $25 for seniors (65 and older), and $10 for students (21 and younger). Visit hamptontheatre.org, call 1-866-811-4111 or visit the box office a half hour before curtain.