The Effect of Different Staging of An Inspector Calls on the Reaction of the Audience
The way a play is staged is very important to how the audience views
the story and the characters.
We have studied 3 versions of 'An Inspector calls'. The original 1946
production, 1954 film version and the 1992 Royal National Theatre
production.
I will take each of these in turn and see how they are staged
differently and how this affects the audience's perception of the
characters.
The first production I will look at is the original 1946 production.
When the curtain rises it is performed as written in the book, this
means that we are immediately in the Birlings' dining room. There is
an engagement party in progress, we are let in on their conversation,
this makes us feel like part of the family - but we are still on the
outside to a certain extent. When the Inspector arrives, he interrupts
the family's party and we feel as if our evening has been disturbed as
well.
We only hear about Eva Smith/Daisy Renton in this version when the
Inspector questions each character. This interrogation causes a whole
story to unfold about her character but we never actually meet her in
person. In spite of not meeting her, we still feel quite sorry for her
as we hear what happened.
In the 1954 film version, once again we are in the dining room. I
think that we as the audience feel more a part of the family than we
do in the original version as the camera shot is at eye-level with the
other characters. This makes us, the audience, feel like we are
sitting at the table and are part of the party. Again we develop an
emotional attachment to the characters at first so it comes as even
more of a shock when the Inspector arrives and ruins the evening.
A major difference between this version and the original is that we
actually meet Eva/Daisy. When the Inspector is questioning the family,
audience in his play. I will be analysing act one of the play to try
The Dramatic Techniques J.B. Priestley Used to Create and Develop Tension in Act one of An Inspector Calls
...e the beginning of time, Television has been one the most influential pieces of media that the world has ever encountered. Bravo TV’s hit number one reality television show, The Real Housewives of Atlanta, deals with the everyday lives of modern-day “housewives”. When speaking of these women and their family life, the show shows its viewers that family life in modern times is dramatic, full of misrepresentations of how people are perceived, and how fame comes at the cost of family. The show stands strong with the critics and its faithful viewers around the world. Clearly, the show is not going astray anytime soon. Families who watch the show will eat up the drama and prays that their families never deal with those petty types of problems. The world will keep spinning in the television cycle, and drama will continue to invade the homes of millions of Americans.
Examine Priestley's use of dramatic techniques to create tension in the play. Priestly was a socialist writer, and 'An Inspector Calls' is one of the plays in which he tried to display his socialist ideals in. The play was written in the 1940's, a little after the end of the Second World War, and it was first performed in 1946, in Russia, then later in England. Priestly had served in World War 1, and the terrible scenes he saw lead to him having socialist views. He was inspired by other writers whose views he shared, especially George Orwell and H.G.
audience is left in suspense at the end of Act One, this is done so
member of the family to admit to the fact she did wrong and is willing
to reflect on how people can change. He set it in the past before the
In this section at the end of Act Two we find out that Mrs Birling
An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley as an Effective Piece Of Social Criticism As Well As An Enjoyable Theatrical Experience
... checks himself). As well the whole of act one is ironic as Eva Smith's
Most people’s lives in the 21 century are in some way affected by media and it is affecting the way individuals preform daily tasks. Television shows are a great example of this; they show the development of characters over a period and display how greater social forces shape what they have become. C. Wright mills uses a term the sociological imagination, it is the theory that people’s lives are shaped essentially by greater social forces and society’s expectations rather than biology and genetics. The show Modern Family is a good example of the sociological imagination because it has a diverse cast and the characters have many personalities, wants, and desires. Modern Family is a television show that has stories of separate individual families who are related. Claire and Mitch are siblings and Jay is their father. The families are Claire, Phil, Alex, Hailey and Luke. Mitch, Cam and Lilly and Jay, Gloria and Mani.
The Birlings are holding a party to celebrate their daughter’s engagement with Gerald Croft. The pleasant scene is interrupted when a rather shady looking Inspector gives them a visit, investigating the suicide of a young working-class girl in her middle twenties. Each family member is interrogated and they all find out that they are somehow linked to the girl’s death.
According to Erving Goffman’s performances theory, the way we interpret ourselves is similar to a theater in which we are all actors on a stage playing a variety of roles. The way in which we act in front of a group of observers or audience is our performance. Goffman introduces the idea that we are always performing for our observers like actors performing on a stage. The impression that we give off to an audience in a scenario is the actor’s front. You can compare an actor’s front to a script. Certain scenarios have scripts that suggest the actor how he or she should behave in every situation. The setting for the performances includes the location and scenery in which the acing takes place.
...have the most robust connections alive. They also have the intimacy, influence, design, impact and carving tools to carve us. The family itself can control and change our views on society, influence how we view the family unit, and yet most of all impact our everyday choices. There is nothing the family couldn’t possibly do. Anne Frank, Kino, Mourad, The Scieszka brothers, and the brother in family are divine exemplar for us to see the way a family can sway. Since the drive of the family is the second influential component of life, love is the first. Yet we fail to see that the family is the love, it doesn’t matter if they’re poor, if they’re trapped, or even throwing up on each other, this is the strongest love in the world. People move on, but they always remember the family. The family is wolf pack, everyone des there own thing, but they always remain together.
There wasn’t any particular scene on stage that made me doubt the integrative work of the director since all the staging work such as lighting, design, costumes and performance were well coordinated and blended for a very good production. The lights were well positioned with well fitted costumes and a very ideal scene to match. There wasn’t much change of scenes in the play except for some movement of tables and chairs. There was an entrance and exit for the performers which made their movements uninterrupted. There was a loud sound of a bell when school was over while the lights were dimmed whenever there was a change of scene. The pace of the production was very smooth since one scene followed the other without delay and most likely because most of the performers wore the same costume; especially all eight students wore the same costume for the entire