And no – this is not about state censorship of the Arts, or not yet. But… Bribes? Fiddled expenses? Panic? Sound familiar?

One of Scotland’s most respected and trailblazing theatre companies, Communicado, in a co-production with Glasgow’s Tron Theatre, presents this feisty adaptation of Gogol’s classic satire on bureaucracy and human vanity.

It will be presented at Craignish Village Hall on Sunday 7th March at 8pm, with a show at Mull Theatre in Tobermoray on 2nd March already behind it

A penniless nobody from the big city arrives in a small town, where he is mistaken for an all-powerful government inspector by its corrupt and self-serving officials. Hilarious and vicious in its expose of the corruption of (petty) power, in this age of abuses of office, banking crises and publicly subsidised duck islands, The Government Inspector is more topical and relevant than ever

In the run-up to 2010’s general election, Gogol’s acerbic, very black comedy – first published in 1836 as a stinging critique of Tsarist Russia- asks the big question ‘do politicians and politics ever change?’

‘I have wanted to stage  this play for a long time’, says director, Gerry Mulgrew. ‘It is one of those brilliant and dazzling examples of a perfectly structured satire, the comedy of errors par excellence, and quite extraordinary in the ruthlessness with which it exploits the basic situation of mistaken identity for comic ends. In so doing, none of the characters is spared Gogol’s forensic scalpel as he dissects and gleefully exposes the greed and stupidity of his collection of self-serving public officials and their spouses and hangers- on.’

Communicado hits the piece with all its trademark attack and musical invention – this time with live music from the Communicado Temporary Orkestra No.27 on electric balalaikas and mouth organs.