Look closely at the opening of the play up to the inspector’s entrance. Analyse the dramatic devices Priestly employs to create atmosphere and set up his central theme. J.B Priestly employs many dramatic devices throughout the play to great effect. Some help add atmosphere whilst others set up his central theme. In turn this enhances the audience’s understanding of, ‘An Inspector Calls’ and enables them to fully appreciate Priestly’s political views.
J.B Priestly is very prescriptive about the set and characterisation. His instructions are precise and clear, therefore not leaving much open to interpretation. When comparing both Priestly’s instructions and the performance itself, there are considerable differences. Priestly wanted the general effect to be ‘heavily comfortable and substantial but not cosy and homelike’. However according to his stage directions there is only one table, centre down stage, with no mention of the rest of the stage. This could lead us to believe that the rest of the stage was plain. Seated round the table are the four Birlings and Gerald Croft. Priestly’s directions are so detailed that he has even written the seating arrangement.
The recent London staging of the play was completely different, but Priestly’s intended effect was nevertheless achieved. The play is set in 1912, although it was not written or performed until 1945. The stage is set out with a trapdoor downstage right and a mailbox just upstage from that. At the very beginning of the play the theatre is meant to look old and run down. Children, who are supposed to be evacuees from 1945, rise up from the trapdoor.
The stage layout demonstrates to the audience that the play is actually set in 1912. The evacuees come up on to the stage and begin playing with the radio. As they touch other props, the stage comes to life, the lights come on and the story, ‘An Inspector Calls,’ begins. There is a phone box downstage right and a lamppost on the street. The house is raised on stilts; I think this is meant to be symbolic, showing the Birling family’s elevated status in society. Edna, the maid is seated on the street lower down. This helps to illustrate the wide gap in society and symbolises Edna’s inferior position.
The house is shut off to the audience, so it is apparent from the beginning of the play that the Birling family wishes to shut itself off from others. It also helps emphasise Arthur Birling’s idea that every man should look after himself. Laughing and celebrating can be heard from within, but only light can be seen. This helps create a celebratory and carefree atmosphere. The street is fairly rundown, dull and a complete contrast from the house itself. People are throwing rubbish out from the windows and it is raining. This could be to indicate that in 1912 there were far more poor people than well off people like the Birlings. The stilts of the house are flimsy and thin, which reflects the family’s relationship with each other. At the end of the play the house comes crashing down, just like the family’s relationship.
Priestly wanted the lighting to be pink and intimate up until the point when the Inspector arrives. This change in the lighting is an effective dramatic device and creates a complete contrast in atmosphere. The atmosphere changes from celebratory and carefree to tense and uncomfortable. The introductory stage directions set the author’s desired tone for each of the characters. This is to ensure that the actors portray them precisely as Priestly intended. Priestly would like Arthur Birling to be ‘rather portentous’ whilst Sybil, his wife should be ‘rather cold’. Sheila is supposed to be very ‘pleased with life’ and ‘rather excited’, whilst Eric is characterised as ‘half-shy’ and ‘half assertive’. Gerald is described as an ‘easy well bred young man about town’.
The performance was fairly modern therefore more extra effects were added. Although they were obviously not written in the text, if they could have been used when the play was written it is likely Priestly would have included them. Things like smoke to create an eerie atmosphere at the beginning, different music to add suspense, the rain and the staging, all come under this category. J.B Priestly wrote the play ‘An Inspector Calls’ in 1945 just as the Second World War was coming to an end. The play is set in the year 1912, a time when many aspects of society were unjust. Priestly demonstrates this point by creating a microcosm of society in the play ‘An Inspector Calls’.
The gap between the rich and poor was very wide, and life for the unemployed was especially difficult. The people who were generally worse off were the working class young women. In 1912, it should be noted that over 8 million young women were earning less than 25 shillings a week, and it was into this category that Eva Smith fell. The play was written at an exceptionally good time because Priestly and the audiences had seen how the nation pulled together throughout the war and worked together to achieve one common goal.
During the war class did not divide society. There was no rich or poor, everything was rationed so people looked the same, wore similar, drab clothes and ate comparable foods. In the armed forces rich and poor alike shared barracks and were treated equally. Both rich and poor children were evacuated together and lived with each other. Everyone was employed and there was a good sense of morale and togetherness. Barriers built up by class were demolished. Priestly wanted to inspire his audience to create that same atmosphere and that sense of caring for one another now that the war had finished. He wanted the end of the war to promote change, so people worked as a unit, not just for their own appetites or prejudice.
