Patrick Myles Archives - The Play Podcast

081 – The Government Inspector, by Nikolay Gogol

by Douglas Schatz | May 31, 2024 | Podcast Episodes

081 – The Government Inspector, by Nikolay Gogol

Vladimir Nabokov described The Government Inspector as the “greatest play in the Russian language”. Gogol’s comedy of mistaken identity is an unexpected mix of fantastical farce and serious social satire. The audience and critics were duly confused by its unusual form when it premiered in St Petersburg in 1836 with the Tsar himself in attendance. Some were outraged at its unpatriotic attack on Russia and its governance, while others dismissed it as nothing more than a cheerful comedy. Gogol himself was dismayed by its reception, pronouncing rather sententiously as he took his leave of Russia for the next twelve years, “a prophet has no honour in his own country.”

The play has survived as a paradigm of political corruption in any age or place, as well as for its exuberant comic form which allows for malleable theatrical interpretation. As we record this episode, a new rendition arrives on the London stage in Patrick Myles’s knock-about adaptation, which is set in a region of England at an indeterminate date, but which has many resonances to the political landscape of our time.

I’m delighted to welcome Patrick to the podcast to help us learn more about this classic play and its enigmatic author.

Patrick Myles

Patrick Myles is an actor, writer, director and producer. His acting credits include work on stage, TV and film, and his writing and directing comprise a number of short films, including his adaptation of Nikolay Gogol’s famous short story, The Overcoat, with Jason Watkins and Tim Key heading a strong cast. The film was listed for a BAFTA award for Best British Short in 2019.

Recommended Play

Patrick recommended Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme by Molière.

We have footnotes for this episode …

The Footnotes that accompany our episode on Nikolay Gogol’s classic satire The Government Inspector, include notes on the source for the plot of the play, Gogol’s reaction to the initial reception to the play, as well as extracts from the playwright’s character notes for the actors.

Footnotes for Patrons

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Since I launched The Play Podcast in April 2020, I have managed to eschew any form of advertising or sponsorship, and I would like to continue to produce the podcast without doing so. I therefore invite you to help me to continue to make the podcast by becoming a Patron. Additional benefits available to Patrons include Footnotes on the plays covered in the podcast, as well as early access to The Play Review. For details click here Thank you very much for listening and for your support. Douglas

The Texts

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115 – The Dance of Death by August Strindberg

Oct 6, 2026 | Podcast Episodes

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August Strindberg’s The Dance of Death is set in a remote army base on the coast of Sweden, where an army captain and his wife are trapped together in an unhappy marriage. The captain, bitter at his lack of promotion, and his wife, frustrated at having been forced to give up her career as an actress, occupy their empty hours tearing into each other in a brutal dance of mutual cruelty.

Strindberg’s scorching portrait of marital strife was written in 1900, but has had a lasting influence. Arthur Miller dubbed Strindberg, “the mad inventor of modern theatre”, and echoes of his unflinching dissection of marital discord can be seen in the plays of Edward Albee, Tennessee Williams, Eugene O’Neill, and John Osborne.

Sir Richard Eyre adapted and directed a wonderful production of Dance of Death at the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond upon Thames earlier this year, and I am delighted that Sir Richard joins me in this episode to guide us through Strindberg’s blistering onslaught on marriage.

114 – Love’s Labour’s Lost by William Shakespeare

Sep 22, 2026 | Podcast Episodes

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William Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost is described on the title page in the first publication of its text in 1598 as “A Pleasant Conceited Comedie.” I imagine that the epithets were intended to highlight the play’s courtly aesthetic, its frothy merry-go-round of courtship, and above all perhaps, its ostentatiously intricate word play. For it is a play rich in the love and perils of language.

I am joined to assay Shakespeare’s conceited comedy by the Artistic Director of the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond upon Thames, Tom Littler. In the summer of 2026 Tom adapted and directed a magical double bill of Shakespeare, producing Love’s Labour’s Lost and Much Ado About Nothing in repertory, and staging them both ‘en plein air’.

113 – Arcadia by Tom Stoppard

Aug 24, 2026 | Podcast Episodes

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Tom Stoppard’s 1993 play, Arcadia, is viewed by many as his finest play, renowned for the breadth of its intellectual interrogations and its formal invention. The play is a structural masterpiece of ideas, as well as a teasing detective story, joyous comedy, and emotionally rich exploration of love and loss.

As we record this episode a wonderful new production of Arcadia is playing at the Duke of York’s theatre in London’s West End, following its acclaimed run at the Old Vic theatre earlier this year. I am delighted to share the challenge and the pleasure of exploring Stoppard’s dazzling drama with the director of the new production, Carrie Cracknell.