The Cast Photo by Joan Marcus

It's the mid-1830s in a small village somewhere in Russia where townspeople fear a visit from someone from St. Petersburg whom they assume is a government type who will do them harm, take their money, whatever. They live within the context of decaying buildings and snow abounds. Silin Chen has designed a set that includes rear brick wall, a crumbling front wall, a clothesline perched above theatregoers' heads, a huge chandelier, and a long leaning street lamp. Before one word is spoken, actors cavort through the aisles, sometimes intermingling with the audience. They seem half human/half animal. Their headpieces happily recall Bread & Puppet Theatre.

During the lengthy first act (the entire production runs for a good two and one half hours), The Mayor (Brandon E. Burton) explains to all that an inspector is coming and this definitely spells trouble. Local folk including, among others, The Postmaster (Annelise Lawson), who is in the habit of opening up letters; a very weak School Superintendent (John Evans Reese); The Doctor (Grayson Richmond), who speaks only German, not Russian; and the Director of Public Health (Whitney Andrews) who knows patients will not get well. Anna, the Mayor's Wife (Elizabeth Stahlmann), and her daughter Marya (Chinna Palmer) speak at first through upper level windows. Later in the show, their personalities are amplified and these two individuals become pivotal.

Eventually, Ivan Khlestakov (Samuel Douglas), a gambler who is short on cash but is thought to be the inspector, arrives with his man who is a kind of servant and named Osip (Nomè SiDone). Ivan is actually little more than a clerk who's on a dispiriting fiscal streak. These guys are starved and Ivan sees his prey and realizes he can milk money from most everyone. Samuel Douglas's Ivan is full of himself, eager to boast about whatever strikes his fancy. He tends to shout, revels in the spotlight, and fills the air with bombastic claims. During the second act, Ivan is even bolder and romances, first, Marya, and then her mother Anna. The interplay between mother and daughter does not go unnoticed. Finally, there's a serious and ominous sequence whereby Ivan is frightened by his double. This symbolic plotting brings its own implications.

The entire acting troupe is sublime as Kordonsky, a professor at Yale's David Geffen School of Drama, has assembled actors who either have an MFA degree from the school or are currently students. The man at the helm is familiar with their attributes and capitalizes on his their variety of skills.

The look and special production elements of the presentation, too, are dazzling. Chen fully transports observers to another time and place. Yes, it's probably 1835 or so, but one could conjure another era as well. KT Farmer has dressed actors in different modes and ways. The mayor might more or less look like an official of today's world but others are outfitted to eclectically match the period. Sound designer Minjae Kim delivers composer Arseniy Gusev's music with volume and more volume.

It's appropriate to recognize The Inspector for its humor, but there's far more to it. The shenanigans are undeniable while the story reaches further. The citizens of this nowhere place scurry and scramble because they are terrified that someone from the government will strip them of their lives. That part, to some of those living in twenty-first century America, might ring with relevance. On the other hand, it seems that the villagers, themselves, have not been altogether forthright, that they lack transparence. The Judge (Darius Sakui), for example, cannot be trusted.

Yura Kordonsky, who was born in Odessa, Ukraine, honors the original Gogol but has sculpted his own singular theatre piece. The designers surround the actors so that effects are active rather than passive. The result is a delightfully immersive theatre adventure which is partly real and, for certain, surreal as well.

The Inspector runs through March 29, 2025, at Yale Repertory Theatre, 1120 Chapel St., New Haven CT. For tickets and information, please call 203-432-1234 or visit Yalerep.org.