Phillyist Reviews... The Government Inspector

Russian literature has a bit of a bad rap. Well, perhaps not bad... nobody begrudges Tolstoy his place amongst the masters. But it certainly has a depressing rap. With War and Peace and Anna Karenina setting the standard for what we consider the Russian canon, nobody thinks to turn to the Russians for laughs.

That's because nobody thinks of looking at the work of Nikolai Gogol, a predecessor to Tolstoy, to whom life wasn't quite so dark. Gogol was as critical of the Russian monarchy as the younger Tolstoy, but he laughed through his pain. The Government Inspector is an example of Gogol's satirical take on the state of things in his country, and, currently in production at The Lantern Theater, a funny example at that.

With a cast featuring some of Philly's best comedic actors (Anthony Lawton and Sarah Sanford, among them) playing multiple parts, the show packs on laughs at the time of year when we need them most. It's not quite escapist comedy, but it definitely lets you forget about all that shopping you still have to do, at least for a few hours. The premise is classic farce: mistaken identity causes inadvertently hilarious consequences. Physical comedy abounds. Raunchiness is present, but not prevailing. There's no shortage of laughs. In classic Lantern style, even the scene changes are an opportunity to play up the comedy—something that director David O'Connor is historically good with.

So what if the show feels a little long? So what if the plot isn't exactly original? It's a good time if you need a laugh—or even if you just want one.

David Ingram, Luigi Sottile, and Anthony Lawton appear in The Government Inspector, at the Lantern Theater through December 28. Photo by Jeffrey Stockbridge.