Even when we know he will our own need see it played out keeps us watching. His exchanges with Birling are an almighty collision between two entirely opposite creeds. Merciless in his pursuit of the truth Goole brings each to account for their social crimes. It is tremendous to experience it in the theatre. The Inspector moves among the Birlings and Gerald Croft like a moral whirlwind, ruthlessly exposing each of them in turn. Who is this girl Eva Smith? Why did she kill herself? Did each member of this family really have a hand in her demise? What did they do? Why did they do it? Who is this Inspector? Is he a real Inspector or someone or something else? And then of course at the very end the telephone rings bringing more questions and questions about questions.

As soon as the Inspector walks into that drawing room we are hooked. It is a play that demands answers to questions that can only be found by continued watching. The second reason is that it is a gripping piece of drama that maintains the shape and atmosphere of a thriller. Its simplicity is therefore a large factor in its enduring appeal. An Inspector Calls has been heard and understood in thousands of theatres around the world. And the time soon came when I was read and understood in a 1000 bar parlours’. He once wrote that he ‘wanted to write something that at a pinch could be read aloud in a bar parlour. He deliberately chose a wide channel of communication and wanted to reach the widest audience possible. Now this facility is not because Priestley couldn’t write complex plays with symbolic meanings conveyed in abstract terms using language that is hard to understand it is because on the whole he chose not to.

His dialogue is composed of what he himself called ‘that familiar flat idiom’. Priestley’s language is also not difficult. It is a straightforward three-act play where the action is continuous and the pace brisk. It is not expressionistic or experimental, nor is it abstract or symbolic – like Music at Night or Johnson Over Jordan. Reason one is that there is nothing difficult about the play. The Enduring Appeal of An Inspector CallsĪs we reach the 70th Anniversary since its first staging in Russia in 1945, we ask what is the enduring appeal of An Inspector Calls? What makes it Priestley’s most performed and most popular play? Pinpointing one single reason is difficult so let us consider three. This text formed the basis of a talk given at the Bradford Literature Festival in May 2015.

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