The Nevada Conservatory Theatre proudly presents The Inspector General from Nov. 12-22 in the Black Box Theatre.

When the corrupt city council of a mid-sized American town mistakes a penniless drifter for a federal accountability agent, it's a slap-dash scramble to the bottom. Most famous and funniest of the satires of Nikolai Gogol, The Inspector General receives a modern makeover in this stylish, hilarious, and edgy adaptation. Political absurdity has never felt so close to home. Tickets are available here.

Originally written in 1836, Gogol’s original work has been adapted countless times over the past two centuries. In this contemporary adaptation, Michael Mark Chemers brings Gogol’s biting comedy of political corruption, dishonesty, and abuse of power into the 21st century. As Chemers observes, “Unfortunately, this play is as relevant today as it was 200 years ago. The problems that Gogol was facing in 19th-century Czarist Russia are not that different from the problems that we’re facing in 21st-century American politics.”

The director of this production, SteBos, says, “Nikolai Gogol’s 1836 satire of provincial officials has rarely felt so close to the evening news. Michael M. Chemers’ contemporary adaptation is a farce with a tragicomic streak, set in a small American town with pointed references to the current administration. The town’s officials revel in their corruption until a mysterious Inspector General arrives. I imagined this town way out in the boonies as ultra-conservative and dressed in colonial garb, yet quick to adopt the newest gadgets. Our joyful ensemble plays the whole mess for laughs, but the laughs have teeth. Come see who gets caught.”

“We are delighted to bring this satire to NCT.  I am thrilled to have SteBos direct this production after his incredibly visceral, beautiful, and powerful production of  Samuel Beckett’s Happy Days in 2023,”  says Executive Director Kirsten Brandt.  “SteBos’ knack for absurdity is a perfect pairing with Chemers’ brash and audacious adaptation.”

Content advisory: Smoking, adult language and themes, talk of drugs, sex, and sexuality. Brief mentions of suicide. The show is intended for mature audiences. 

Michael M. Chemers

Professor of Dramatic Literature at the University of California Santa Cruz and an internationally-renowned scholar of the facility of performance in enhancing (or diminishing) the human capacity for empathy, compassion, and kindness. 

The flip side of empathy is fear.

In pursuit of this understanding, Dr. Chemers has become a leading expert on the strange, the macabre, the horrific, and the monstrous in performance. His work on the dramaturgy has been translated into many languages and has become standard reference for scholars, teachers, and artists all over the world.

SteBos

(Director The Inspector General) For NCT:  SteBos is a Las Vegas- and New York-based stage director, dramaturg, and teaching artist. Currently he is Resident Dramaturg at the Nevada Conservatory Theatre in Las Vegas. He is the founder and artistic director of Theatreplots, a company and training ground for actors based on the ensemble model set forth by Anatoly Vasiliev and Jurij Alschitz in Europe. From 2013 to 2015 he was Resident Director at The Flea Theater (Jim Simpson, artistic director) in NYC. In 2013 and 2015 he was a resident artist of collaborate:create, produced by Forward Flux at Theaterlab and the Center for Performance Research.

After receiving an MFA in Stage Directing from the School of Dramatic Art “Paolo Grassi” in Milan, Italy, he specialized in acting and directing with Jurij Alschitz at the GITIS (Russian Academy of Dramatic Art) in Moscow and worked as stage director in Milan, Parma, and New York City. With Alschitz, he developed his practice as teacher of innovative theatre training methods within the framework of The World Theatre Training Institute.

Along the way he studied with several master teachers including SITI company (Suzuki/Viewpoints), Antonio Fava (commedia dell’arte), Massimo Navone (Shakespeare / Chekhov), Kuniaki Ida (Lecoq), Richard Gordon (Method), Elio de Capitani (stage directing). He was assistant director for artists such as Leon Ingulsrud (SITI company), Gabriele Vacis (Teatro Settimo), Martin Wuttke (Berliner Ensemble), and musical theatre choreographer Franco Miseria. https://stebos.net/

Production Team

• Stebos — Director 
• Daniel Ly* — ScenicDesigner 
• Hannah Prochaska* — Costume Designer 
• Andee Roby* — Lighting Designer
• Arles Estes +— Sound Designer 
• Aya Giardina*— Technical Director 
• Sean Boyd— Intimacy Coordinator and Fight Director
• Moira Kowalski* — Stage Manager 

Cast

• Mayor: Jack Herrera
• Mayor’s Wife: Nikayla Nash
• Mary: DeJanae Christian
• Buttermilk: Graham Poore*
• Zippo: Jay Gracia*
• City Controller: Rai Hunter
• City Solicitor: Taylor Hanes+
• Superintendent of Schools: DaNiesha Carr*
• Lobbyist for Medical Insurance: Ryan Zecchino
• Communications Director: Liana Fernez*
• Police Chief: Reece Bennett
• Police Sergeant: Dominic Romero 
• Bob Frick: Daniel Vaughn
• Bob Frack: Maxim Lardent +
• Elder Swensen / Man in Black: Peter Gilyard
• Hotel Manager: Yeonjoo Lee*
• Mrs. Enright: Arianna Jennings
• Mrs. Jameson: Pierre Ciofassa 

About Nevada Conservatory Theatre

The Nevada Conservatory Theatre (NCT), founded by the theatre faculty in 2000 and housed in the Judy Bayley Theatre on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas stands as a model for the intersection of research, pedagogy, and professional practice. The NCT at UNLV is led by the Department of Theatre Executive Director/Artistic Director Kirsten Brandt and governed by the faculty of the Department of Theatre. Serving as the applied artistic and technical producing arm of the Department of Theatre, NCT is a national model for theatre training programs seeking to bridge the gap between academic practice and professional theatre.

About the UNLV College of Fine Arts

The College of Fine Arts educates, empowers, and engages creative people to become visionary change-makers in the arts through acts of imagination. At UNLV we believe the arts are an essential good for society. We make education relevant and accessible through our programs and outreach. We create new knowledge in the arts. We celebrate independent thought and the power of bringing people together to foster creativity.