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<div class="gmail-article_header"><h1><span style="color:rgb(255,0,0)"><i>The reviews are in. Final Week . . . </i></span><br></h1><h1>Civic Players' An Inspector Calls is a work of art</h1><p><b>Amy Durant THE ALT</b><br></p><h1></h1>



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                                        <span class="gmail-story_byline"><strong><a href="http://thealt.com/author/amy-durant/" title="Posts by Amy Durant" rel="author">Amy Durant</a></strong> |  <strong>Monday, January 29 2018</strong></span>


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                                                                                                <img src="http://thealt.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/inspector.jpg" alt="Schenectady Civic Players’ An Inspector Calls is a work of art">
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                                                <p>For those who work in theater, one of the hardest decisions is 
play selection. Theaters love to do new work, but many theatergoers are 
more apt to attend a show with name recognition – either a show or a 
playwright they know. Theaters need audiences, but get tired of doing 
the same types of shows.</p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400">But what if you could take one of 
these older works and completely transform it? Get the audience in the 
door on name recognition, then give them the show they were planning to 
see in a way they’ve never seen it (or even thought of it) before – but 
without changing the script (which is a copyright issue, of course?) 
You’ve got a happy audience, a happy theater company, and you’re not 
just putting on a show. You’re making art.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400">Director Patrick White has created a work of art with his production of </span><i><span style="font-weight:400">An Inspector Calls</span></i><span style="font-weight:400"> at Schenectady Civic Players.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400">Framed as a theater group putting on a
 show on an empty stage in 1945, an inspector (Angelique Powell) shows 
up at Mr. and Mrs. Birling’s (Emmett Ferris, Kim Wafer) home on the day 
they’re celebrating their daughter Sheila’s (Josie Smith) engagement to 
Gerald (JR Richards.) The inspector tells them a young woman (Carmen 
Lookshire) committed suicide, then through a pointed interrogation, 
makes them realize they each had a connection with her – and that they 
may be responsible for her death.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400">The empty stage, first, is a stroke 
of genius. This is a drawing room mystery, right? Wrong. The show could 
be anywhere, at any time. There are very few props or set pieces; the 
actors – and the utterly lush and gorgeous period costumes by Beth Ruman
 – are the centerpiece here, with no distractions. White’s stage 
pictures, as always, are perfection – I’m always a fan, but I think this
 is the first time they’ve taken my breath away. Additionally, the 
flashback scenes are pure poetry.</span></p><div class="gmail-adcontainer">
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<p><span style="font-weight:400">White has put together a strong cast 
for the piece, bringing together both new and familiar actors to the SCP
 stage in nontraditional casting. Powell, whose strength on stage is 
rivaled by few in the area, is inspired as the inspector; her fire and 
passion to bring justice to the young victim seem as innate to her as 
breathing. Wafer is chillingly cold and calculating as the matriarch of 
the family; Marquis Heath, whose performances always bring me joy, is 
perfect as the disaffected Birling son. Lookshire, whose role is largely
 in flashbacks (and three beautiful songs – what a voice!) stole the 
show without a single word of her own, haunting the shadows in her icy 
blue dress, reminding the family of their misdeeds.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400">The question of how to keep theater 
fresh in a world of diminishing audiences is a constant one. Go watch 
this show for the answer. This is how to put on a performance that 
everyone will want to see and everyone will be enriched having seen, 
where the line between new and old play is so blurred it might as well 
not be there.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400">“An Inspector Calls,” </span><i><span style="font-weight:400"><a href="https://www.civicplayers.org/an-inspector-calls">Schenectady Civic Players</a>,
 12 South Church Street, Schenectady; through February 4; $20; Run time:
 2 hours, 15 minutes with a 20-minute intermission; (518) 382-2081; </span></i><a href="https://civicplayers.org/"><span style="font-weight:400">civicplayers.org</span></a></p><p><a href="https://civicplayers.org/"><span style="font-weight:400">



















</span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""><a href="https://civicplayers.org/"><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,0)"><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Final
performances of<b><i> An Inspector Calls </i></b></span><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">are Wednesday through Sunday (January 31 through February 4).<span>  </span>Wednesday and Thursday curtains are at 7:30
pm., Friday and Saturday curtains are at 8 pm., and Sundays are matinees only
at 2:30 pm.<span>  </span><span></span></span></span></a></p><a href="https://civicplayers.org/"><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,0)">

<span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Tickets are $20.<span> 
</span>Order on-line at </span><span style="font-size:11pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""></span></span></a><a href="http://www.civicplayers.org" style="color:blue;text-decoration:underline"><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">www.civicplayers.org</span></a><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""> </span><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span>  </span>Or call (518)
382-2081 </span>



<br><p></p><p><a href="https://civicplayers.org/"><span style="font-weight:400"><br></span></a></p>
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