Inspection Time

Since graduating from drama school in 2008 Zahra Newman has become a well loved frequenter of the main stages of Melbourne and Sydney theatres. Her mercurial onstage presence has seen her land some stellar roles, such as Amanda in Belvoir's Private Lives or Camae in last year's Martin Luther King Jr-inspired The Mountaintop. She came to Australia from Jamaica at the age of 14 and at that time didn't really consider acting a viable option as a career. “But then being in Australia, there were courses. You could get government assistance. And I thought I could do this. When I thought about what I'm going to do with the rest of my life, everything else seemed like I would not be satisfied.”

I catch up with her during the second last week of rehearsals for The Government Inspector at the Malthouse Theatre. Originally Malthouse and Belvoir had teamed up to produce an adaptation of The Philadelphia Story to be directed by Simon Stone. However, towards the end of last year after the 2014 season was announced, an unforeseen issue with the rights arose and the production was swiftly cancelled. Stone had to quickly come up with another play to direct. He decided on Nikolay Gogol's 1836 Russian satire The Government Inspector and carried across the entire cast of The Philadelphia Story into the new production.

Stone claims that of all his adaptations, this is the one that bears the least resemblance to the original text. The original play takes place in a provincial Russian town. Its corrupt officials fear the arrival of an inspector from the central government in Saint Petersburg. A lowly public servant is mistaken for the inspector by the townsfolk and he takes advantage of the sycophantic bribes and platitudes that are lain at his feet by the hapless officials.

Stone and his compatriots have taken the core themes and relationships of the original text and combined them with the real world circumstances that surrounded the creation of their production. Newman explains, “It's a group of actors who were about to stage a play but they've had their rights taken away from them so they have to find something else to put on in a short amount of time. Which is very similar to the situation we were in and we make references to that and we all play a version of ourselves in parts of the show.”

Gogol's original is a biting satire that unmasks petty government corruption and inane bureaucracy. Newman explains that their deconstruction deals more with the politics of human relationships. “It's more about the politics about the dynamic between people. And you do get the politics of theatre: egos, administration and money.” As well as exposing the sausage factory that is the rehearsal room, Newman points out, “The show is also really silly and fun and it's just sort of like an appreciation of theatre. It's about the love of what we do. There's nothing wrong with just entertainment and I think that is what the show is saying as well.”

WHAT: The Government Inspector
WHEN & WHERE: 28 Feb – 23 Mar, Malthouse, Merlyn Theatre