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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113 – Arcadia by Tom Stoppard

Aug 21, 2026 | Podcast Episodes

Published 24th August

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.

112 – Glengarry Glen Ross by David Mamet

Jul 27, 2026 | Podcast Episodes

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David Mamet’s modern American classic, Glengarry Glen Ross, is a blistering commentary on the cut-throat reality of the American dream, and its poisonous impact on those who have bought into the myth and machismo of that dream. The play had its world premiere in the small Cottesloe theatre at the National Theatre in London in September 1983, and was first performed in New York the following year, winning the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Mamet also wrote the extended screenplay for the star-studded 1992 film version.

As we recorded this episode a new production of the play was playing at the Old Vic theatre in London, with an all-female cast. This is a particularly provocative idea, because one of the primary themes of this play is masculine identity, and the salesmen in this Chicago office do not hold back in their display of machismo.

To explore Mamet’s unflinching slice of 1980s dog-eat-dog capitalism, I am joined by arts journalist Mark Lawson.

111 – The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui by Bertolt Brecht

Jul 2, 2026 | Podcast Episodes

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Bertolt Brecht’s ‘gangster spectacle’, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, is both an exuberant and funny piece of theatre, and a chillingly topical political satire. Set in the 1930s Chicago of Al Capone, Brecht presents a parody of the rise of Hitler through the character of the gangster Arturo Ui. The play is a universal cry for vigilance against the rise of unscrupulous, populist leaders who threaten democratic societies and global peace.

As we recorded this episode a new production of the play by the Royal Shakespeare Company was playing in Stratford-upon-Avon, starring Mark Gatiss as the title character.

I am delighted to be joined by both the show’s translator, playwright Stephen Sharkey, and by Brecht scholar, Professor Tom Kuhn, to guide us through Brecht’s political parody.