Washington Post - Recommended
"... Kahn’s comic inventions are classic in both Shakespearean and vaudevillian terms, and so he gets mileage from his players with entrances that remind you of those traditions. In a trio of roles, Marshall is employed to splendid effect, especially in the moment when the door flings open in the shabby inn where Smith’s “inspector,” Ivan Hlestakov, is holed up, and the actress materializes as an innkeeper of minimalist bearing. (As she shuffles around in big, pointy slippers, your thoughts go to a younger Betty White, in one “Carol Burnett” sketch or another.)"
DC Theater Arts - Highly Recommended
"... Don’t be caught being a ‘Mayor Idiot’ by missing The Shakespeare Theatre Company’s production of Nikolai Gogol’s The Government Inspector. Adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher and Directed by Michael Kahn, this amusing American adaptation satirizes corruption in the provincial bureaucracy and plays up the general humor found in such situations with grave mistaken identity. Under the assumption that a government inspector has been sent to his tiny town out in the Russian equivalent of the sticks, the mayor stirs up a flurry of commotion in an attempt to bribe the inspector to keep his position of power. But when a lowly government clerk on the run from his debts appears at the local inn, stories start and before you know it the whole party of power is kowtowing to the clerk like he’s the Tsar himself. A wildly entertaining satire with a sense of sinister subtlety this production will leave you feeling like quite the prize buffoon if you miss out."
MetroWeekly - Highly Recommended
"... Setting the tone, much as he did with last season's spectacularly good Much Ado About Nothing,Derek Smith plays Hlestakov, a feckless young man who is mistaken by a small Russian township for an all-important visiting government inspector. Ridiculous, pompous and truly funny, Smith's man is pitch-perfect, whether he's throwing himself across the furniture, flipping a one-liner or standing stock still. It's the je ne sais quoi of what makes one actor funny and another not, but for Smith, besides the superb comic timing, it's about a certain intelligence behind the performance. He can deliver his wit with the glint of a rapier and, a second later,be giving even the hokiest stunt the kind of absurdity that would make a cynic snort."
WeLoveDC - Recommended
"... The Government Inspector is a 19th-century farce by Nikolai Gogol, but Washington audiences won’t find it dated. Sadly, we can still be in thrall to demagogues and doublespeak, and those who make obscene wealth off the sweat of the poor (at least we don’t have serfs, right? Right?) When the corrupt officials of a remote town learn they are being secretly inspected by a government agent, their ridiculous attempts at cover-up would make a Watergate operative blush, let alone more recent shammers. Throw in a case of mistaken identity and watch them all squirm."
Talkin Broadway - Recommended
"... Government Inspector is both a slashing satire of hypocrisy and social pretension and—at least as performed by the skilled comic actors in the production now at Washington's Shakespeare Theatre Company—a rowdy farce. The beauty of this play is that it allows the audience to laugh at people they know, never quite realizing that they're actually laughing at an exaggerated version of themselves."
Washington City Paper - Somewhat Recommended
"... This production, directed by Kahn, offers ample opportunity for dwelling. It’s as stiff and confining and needlessly ornamented as the frock coats and gowns its cast is made to wear. Naturally, a show-delaying set snafu invites consideration of whether such ornate scenery is required. But the fancy digs, by James Noone, and those costumes, by Murell Horton, feel essential, if only to try to disguise the absence of any fresh seasoning for this porridge. It’s wacky. It’s zany. There are antics. Hijinks are dutifully depicted, many of them of the popular “madcap” strain. It just isn’t all that—what’s the word?—funny."
BrightestYoungThings - Highly Recommended
"... My Romanian father has this old joke he likes to tell. It’s about a drunk in Bucharest who’s lying down on the street. Another man notices the drunk, figures he must be lying down for a reason, and stands next to him. Pretty soon others are joining in, and there’s a line stretching around the block. When the drunk finally wakes up, he looks at all the people and says, “What luck! I’m at the front of the line!” Nikolai Gogol’s The Government Inspector,the first Russian play at the Shakespeare Theater Company, is an extended riff on that joke, except with the added benefit of bold production values and a terrific cast."
ShowBizRadio - Highly Recommended
"... This stellar cast will give you the kind of performance we all have become accustomed to here at the Shakespeare Theatre Company, as in most Michael Kahn’s productions they do not disappoint. The comic genius of Derek Smith playing the role of Ivan Alexandreyevich Hlestakov carries the show along with the equally talented acting prowess of Rick Foucheux playing The Mayor, Anton Antonovich. Both are a pleasure to enjoy."
DCTheatreScene - Highly Recommended
All right, let’s start with this. The Government Inspector is a five-alarm fire of a play, a bell-ringing, jitterbugging dance through a swamp of hypocrisy which is both ancient and modern. It is better than five stars; in The Government Inspector everyone’s a star, in his own sick, mendacious way.
