Studio Theatre 
Studio Theatre, Salisbury 
Philip & Julie McStraw 
14 October 2025
The latest production by the award-winning Studio Theatre is Ukrainian playwright Nikolai Gogal’s timeless satire The Government Inspector. However, note the all-important sub-title ( A Little Local Difficulty) because this adaptation is quite a transformation from the original play, which on publication in 1836 led to a great outcry from Russian conservatives and traditionalists who discredited it as being subversive and anti-establishment. Apparently, Tsar Nicholas overruled the censors and endorsed the play, which he considered to be “a cheerful mockery of bad provincial officials”. Superficially, that is precisely what the play is about and it is certainly a very funny story that still resonates with audiences.
The plot is a simple and familiar affair: the corrupt officials and the Mayor of a small town react with panic to the news that an incognito Government Inspector has been appointed to investigate reports of their activities and misdeeds. Two of them, Mr and Mrs Robson, encounter a verbose, self-important stranger at the local Inn and, putting two and two together and making five, they convince themselves and everyone else that this stranger must be the Inspector. Needless to say, pompous Mayor Wyndham-Pitts and other townspeople suck up to this stranger, a Mr John Petty. He doesn’t waste the opportunity to take full advantage of their deference, and he fleeces them of their ready cash, whilst seducing the Mayor’s wife Anna and daughter Maria. However, the deception unravels soon enough, though by then the ‘scoundrel’ has made a run for it, leaving behind a town full of humbled and embarrassed fools.
This particular treat from the Studio Theatre is an updated version of the play by prolific playwright Philip Goulding, who happens to also be the brother of George Goulding, the Director of this fast-paced production.
For this telling of the tale, we are transported to an unnamed Northern Town in Victorian England, complete with Yorkshire accents and use of vernacular that requires a glossary in the programme to interpret such words as nammit (lunch), mystery (sausages); and whistleblowers (beans). These changes in time and location are designed to heighten the comedic effect and enable the dialogue to be delivered at a frenetic pace, though it also turns the sophisticated satire of the original into something else that can be likened to a modern-day farce. But that’s absolutely fine and, judged on the enthusiastic audience reaction to this showing, it goes down really well.
On stage at various times are eight players, though most take on two or three roles and they all worked fantastically well together. Jamie Pullen, playing the lead part of the charlatan John Petty, pretty much steals the show with the physicality of his performance and the timing of his lines – which need to be spot-on to achieve the full comedic effect. Kris Hamilton-Brain also produces a fine performance as Mayor Wyndham-Pitts. We would also single out Aine Tiernan for special mention, as she was a late addition to the cast – playing three roles with only four weeks to prepare!
The stage itself was perfectly set with a grand looking parlour in the Mayor’s house which, with clever adjustment to the lighting, and slick turning over of the Mayor’s official portrait, was quickly converted to a room in the Slaughtered Cow Inn. The costumes were also just right – especially so the extravagant bouffant hair style of John Petty (presuming it was a wig and not his real hair!). The incidental music was inspired – opening with Black Sabbath’s Paranoid, played on the harp and other period music played on harpsichord.
This Studio Theatre production of The Government Inspector or A Little Local Difficulty doesn’t disappoint, it’s simply great fun. This showing runs until 18 October, so there is still time to grab a ticket before it finishes, if it’s not already sold out.
