An Inspector Calls Program

By J.B. Priestley

April 10, 11, 12, 13, 2024 at 7:30 pm & April 14 at 2 pm

An Inspector Calls

By J.B. Priestley

Director and Dialect Coach – Nadine Purvis Schmidt†

Co-Scenic Designers – Tetta M. Askeland† and Bryn Mongeau†

Costume Designer – Sally Tabaka*

Lighting Designer – Colton Jensen†

Sound Designer – Brooke Burns†

Props Designer – Laura Bradley

Stage Manager – Olivia Houseman

*Generous support for the work of guest artist Sally Tabaka was provided by Friends of the Theatre.

CAST

Arthur Birling, the father .............................................................. Jim Radloff†

Sybil Birling, the mother .............................................................. Amelia Reid

Sheila Birling, the daughter ..................................................... Priscilla Muehr

Eric Birling, the son................................................................... Colton Jensen†

Gerald Croft, the fiancé ........................................................ Alexander Duus†

Inspector Goole, the unexpected visitor ......................... Jordan Stangeland†

Edna, the maid ........................................................................... Katelynn Rolla

†Member of Alpha Psi Omega, the National Honorary Dramatic Fraternity

SETTING

The Birling family’s home in Brumley, North Midlands, UK, one evening in the spring of 1912.

Note: This performance includes mentions of suicide.

This performance runs approximately 90 minutes and is performed without an intermission.

An Inspector Calls is produced by special arrangement with Broadway Licensing, LLC, servicing the Dramatists Play Service collection.

DEFINITIONS FOR WORDS THAT MAY BE UNFAMILIAR

From information complied by Sariah Cheadle, dramaturg

Squiffy – Drunk

Steady, the Buffs! – Popular saying of the time, similar to “Keep calm and carry on.” From a famous British military regiment named for the “buff” color accents on their uniforms.

Potty – Unreasonably fond of Infirmary – Hospital

Goggle-eyed – Staring in an “eye-popping” way Alderman and Lord Mayor – An alderman is a type of city council member. One member is elected as Lord Mayor, primarily a ceremonial position.

Magistrate, on the bench – A magistrate is a kind of judge who oversees cases involving minor civil and criminal offences. “On the bench” means actively serving.

Honours list, knighthood – The Honours list is a list of people who are granted special titles by the monarch as a reward for things they have done. A knighthood is the lowest ranked title, and is not passed down to descendants.

22 shillings a week and 25 shillings a week – The equivalent of about $168 and $192 in today’s money.

50 pounds – Almost $6,000 in today’s money.

DIRECTOR’S NOTES

J.B. Priestley wrote An Inspector Calls in 1945, when his home country, the United Kingdom, was facing some important questions about how their post-World War II society would evolve. He chose to set the play in 1912, a time of exciting technological developments and a powerful, profitable industrial economy in Britain. However, despite a few progressive social reforms in the early years of the century, that time was also marked by astonishing rates of poverty and poor housing for the working class; wage stagnation, inflation, and labor unrest; significant and unsettling shifts in social structure; and World War I looming on the horizon.

Both 1912 and 1945 (and arguably now in both the UK and the US) are times that require citizens to reflect on what they want their society to be, and to consider their own wants, needs, and beliefs in relation to everyone else’s. This is the fundamental question of the play: To what degree are we responsible for how our individual actions affect others and society as a whole?

Like most art forms, theatre is both a window and a mirror. As you look “through the window” into the Birling household, you might also see some familiar thoughts and situations reflected “in the mirror.” As you watch An Inspector Calls and talk about it afterwards, I hope it will inspire some meaningful considerations and conversations around the questions and issues raised by the play.

THE PRODUCTION TEAM

Director and Dialect Coach ..................................... Nadine Purvis Schmidt†

Co-Scenic Designers ...................... Tetta M. Askeland† and Bryn Mongeau†

Costume Designer ..........................................................................Sally Tabaka

Lighting Designer ...................................................................... Colton Jensen†

Sound Designer .......................................................................... Brooke Burns†

Props Designer............................................................................. Laura Bradley

Stage Manager ........................................................................Olivia Houseman

Assistant Stage Managers ................................Kayla Browen, Bernyse Leach

Board Operators ................ Alyster Schmidt, Jenna Shay, and David Wendt

Dramaturg and Lobby Display Designer .............................. Sariah Cheadle†

Producer ..................................................................... Nadine Purvis Schmidt†

Technical Director and Scene Shop Manager ................. Tetta M. Askeland†

Scene Shop Assistants ............................. Carissa Andres, Olivia Houseman, Bryn Mongeau† (paint charge), Theatre Appreciation students

Costume Shop Manager ................................................................Sally Tabaka

Costume Shop Assistants ............................... Theatre Appreciation students

House Manager ........................................................................ Abiah Abraham

Ushers and Poster Crew .................................. Theatre Appreciation students

Box Office Manager ................................................................... Jennifer Stucke

Box Office Assistants ................................ Margeaux Belanger, Isaac Wagner

Poster & Program Design ............................................................. Maddy Groff

Headshot Photography ......................................................... Meghan McClain

Note: The smoking items used in this performance are electronic prop versions that do not contain tobacco or nicotine and are not lit.

SPECIAL THANKS

South Dakota State University Theatre Department

Chris Metz, SMSU Communication Studies Program

SMSU Photography Club

B’Elanna Berreth, Gabriella Berreth, and Britney Bailey

Adam Ramet and Karen Edwards, The Edwardian Pianist and Piano Pavilion

FRIENDS OF THE THEATRE

2023-24 Members

Producer

Aminu Gomos*

Director

Lori Baker & Larry Magrath*

Jerry & Ricke Bly**

Lois Henkel**

Jim & Laurie Johansen***

Robert W. Schwoch***

Marshall Area Stage Company***

Designer

Tetta & Edison Askeland**

Tyler Bowen***

Brett & Anita Gaul**

Jerry Girton***

Jeff & Pam Gladis**

Jim & Deb Kerkaert*

Jan Craig Nelson ‘73***

Lee & Norma Raske**

Jean Replinger*

Sara Runchey and Jim Smalley**

Karen Sweetland*

Jim & Sheila Tabaka & Family***

Nadine and Karl Schmidt***

Ross & Sonja Wastvedt*

John & Māra Wiggins**

*** Charter Member ** Sustaining Member (3+ yrs)

Actor

Dan & Linda Baun**

Doug & JoAnne Fraunfelder***

Wayne Hanson**

Gwen Mukomela**

Lorna Rafness**

Jane, Emily, Ashley, & Natalie Sovell*

Mary Jane Striegel**

Jennifer & Brian Stucke*

Charlotte and Marty Wahle*

Jim & Marianne Zarzana***

Apprentice

Nancy Marco*

Ryne & Jessa Myhrberg**

Helen Pedersen*

Mary Meffert*

* New Member

FRIENDS GIFT LEVELS

GIFT CLUB REWARD

$25 Apprentice 2 ticket vouchers«

«(Ticket vouchers only for those under age 25 or graduate of SMSU within the last five years.)

$75 Actor

$125 Designer

$250

$500

$1000

ticket vouchers

PRODUCTION UNDERWRITER FOR $5,000

Our season provides a great opportunity to build and strengthen positive ties with the community. Underwriter benefits include:

• 20 ticket vouchers for the current season of SMSU Theatre performances, and

• Acknowledgements on the Theatre web page and show posters, in social media posts, media releases, and radio interviews, and in a lobby display during the run of the show.

If you would like to join Friends of the Theatre or sponsor a production, please call the SMSU Theatre at 507-537-7103.

SMSU LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT STATEMENT

Southwest Minnesota State University sits on the ancestral, traditional, and contemporary lands of the Dakota, Lakota, and Nakota people, collectively known as the Oceti Sakowin, Seven Council Fires. We acknowledge and recognize our sovereign neighbors from the Pezihutazizi Otunwe (Yellow Medicine Village) and Cansayapi Otunwe (Village Where They Mark The Trees Red), and all indigenous people who continue to call this area home. SMSU resides on land ceded by the Dakota Nation to the United States in the disputed 1851 Treaty of Traverse des Sioux. This land acknowledgement affirms these nations’ sovereignty and history, while seeking to hold SMSU accountable to the needs of American Indian and Indigenous people.

PLEASE NOTE

Please completely turn off phones and other electronic devices that would interfere with communication and cues crucial to the performance. In an effort to make our Theatre more energy-efficient, we have installed LED house lights. You may notice flickering as the house lights are fading out.

SAFETY MEASURES

We have general admission seating so that ushers can assist the audience in distancing according to their comfort level. You are welcome to wear a mask. Please take a moment to locate the nearest emergency and fire exit.

AN INSPECTOR CALLS AUDIENCE POLL

By dramaturg Sariah Cheadle

As part of your experience here this evening, we invite you to partake in a short survey both before and after the show! If you are using the online program, you can follow this link. If you are using the paper program you can use the camera on your phone to scan this QR code or simply pick up a paper copy of the survey from your usher in the lobby!

The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival , part of the Rubenstein Arts Access Program, is generously funded by D David M. Rubenstein.

Special thanks to The Harol d and Mimi Steinberg Charitable T rust for supporting the John F. Kennedy Cent er for the Performing Arts’ Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival.

Additional support is provided by The Honorable Stuart Bernstein and Wilma E. Bernstein ; and the Dr. Gerald and Paula McNichols Foundation.

Kennedy Center education and related artistic programming is made possible through the generosity of the National Committee for the Performing Arts.

This production is entered in the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF). The aims of this national theater education program are to identify and promote quality in college -level theater production. To this end, each production entered is eligible for a response by a regional KCACTF representative, and selected students and faculty are invited to participate in KCACTF programs involving scholarships, internships, grants and awards for actors, directors, dramaturgs, playwrights, designers, stage managers and critics at both the regional and national levels.

Productions entered on the Participating level are eligible for invitation to the KCACTF regional festival and may also be considered for national awards recognizing outstanding achievement in production, design, direction and performance.

Last year more than 1,500 productions were entered in the KCACTF involving more than 200,000 students nationwide. By entering this production, our theater department is sharing in the KCACTF goals to recognize, reward, and celebrate the exemplary work produced in college and university theaters across the nation.

For more information about the SMSU Theatre Program please call 507-537-7103.Visit the Theatre Arts web page at SMSU.edu/go/theatre or find SMSU Theatre on Facebook and Instagram @SMSUTheatre

UPCOMING EVENTS

The 18th Annual Fine Arts Celebration

A festival of the fine arts, showcasing creative works from the Department of Fine Arts and Communication, the English Department and the Creative Writing Program

FOLLOW @SMSUTHEATRE

SMSU THEATRE ARTS PROGRAM

Department Chairperson ............................................Dr. John Ginocchio

Theatre Faculty.......................................................................Sheila Tabaka†

................................................................................. Nadine Purvis Schmidt†

................................................................................................Tetta Askeland†

.......................................................................................Ray Oster†, Emeritus

.................................................. Dr. William Hezlep†, Emeritus (Deceased)

......................................................... Charles Autry†, Emeritus (Deceased)

Fine Arts Office Administrator.......................................... Jennifer Stucke