The Inspector General
Play script
Notes:
Written in 1835, "The Inspector General" is a rollicking comedy of errors in which a provincial society mistakes an insignificant nitwit for an important official. The play, including two courtships, wild rumors, bribes and hilarious repetition, is classic Gogol, showing the playwright's flair for tricky word-play at the young age of just 24. While the first audiences weren't sure whether they were watching a farce, a satire or a libelous look at well-known individuals, "The Inspector General" went on to be the most-produced play on the Russian stage well into the Soviet era.
It's no wonder Russian master novelist Vladimir Nabokov once dubbed it "the greatest play ever written in Russian (and never surpassed since)."