The Government Inspector - designing a playground for the actors

We bring you an intriguing look behind the scenes, courtesy of the Chichester Festival Theatre

As we eagerly await the opening of Festival 2025 with the brilliantly inventive The Government Inspector, we're thrilled to give you a sneak peek at what you can expect.Our incredible cast are deep in rehearsals (we'll have more to share with you from the room very soon), bringing this farcical comedy to life - but the magic isn't just happening onstage. Behind the scenes, a team of superb creatives is hard at work, crafting every detail, from intricate costumes to stunning sets.

We caught up with designer Francis O'Connor for a first look at the productions design - what inspired it, what surprises are in store, and what to keep an eye out for when you're sitting in the auditorium.

When you get that first phone call about a new production, where do you start?

"When you start designing a show, you're thinking about the play, the audience, and the space it's going to be playing in. The Government Inspector is a great classic comedy, with such broad and fascinating characters. The story is at once of its period and very modern. "We decided to set it in its period, which is Russia in the 1830s so you get the Tsarist world of the peasantry and of the bureaucracy. It makes sense with both the original play and Phil Porter's new version."

How do you approach the physical process of the design?

I produce some two dimensional drawings which give an early impression of ideas about the design; but the main element is the model box. This is a really accurate, 1:25 scale model of what the actual set will be. When you present the model box at the beginning of rehearsals, the company can immediately understand the world they're going to be working in, how the space can be articulated and what they might be able to do within it, long before they get to rehearsals on stage.

The playfulness of sitting together with the model box is where the director and I have the ideas; it's my favourite space really, making the model and conjuring up the design before the joy of seeing carpenters and painters bringing their skills and energy to the workshop.

Essentially we have one main set occupying the full space, the mayor's apartment. Because the mayor is hopeless at his job but very good at lining his own pockets, I was thinking: what's going to tell us about this completely dysfunctional bureaucracy? So the whole set is filled with vintage filing cabinets with a detritus of paperwork spilling out of the open drawers.

Then I thought, OK, if that's telling us this is a space for officialdom, how can I also tell the story of the town itself? Which is why, at the top of the filing cabinets, I've got this miniature world of houses and churches that evokes the community the mayor is in charge of. Hopefully that element will give us a sense of both indoors and outdoors, and theatrically elevate it beyond naturalism although we can play naturalistically in the space.

"Our intention was to make a playground for the actors, when theyre working in the rehearsal room. We've got a lot of tricks going on which I can't reveal to people reading this before they've seen it!

What about costumes? 

"Our costumes will be fairly authentically 1830s, certainly in spirit and shape, but with some theatrical liberties. It's a great period for women's clothes in particular, because it's a bit mad! crinolines and huge sleeves. We have the whole breadth of society on stage, from the very poor to the wealthy some of whom have a bit of taste, others who clearly don't…

"I want this show to be full of surprising moments. I looked closely at Russian rural buildings and architecture to come up with the aesthetic, incorporating highly decorative cutouts that are used in Russian wooden buildings in the doors and windows and mouldings which will look rather special, I hope.

You can see all of these beautiful designs in full scale at The Government Inspector in the Festival Theatre from 25 April until 24 May. Head over to the show page to book your tickets.  You can read the full interview in The Government Inspector programme available to purchase from 25 April.

Images:  The Government Inspector Model Box Designed by Francis O'Connor and Costume design for Marya by Francis O'Connor