Viet Nam Youth Theatre will stage a Gogol's play entitled The Government Inspector at Ha Noi Opera House next week.

Rampant corruption: Si Tien is among artists of the Youth Theatre performing in The Government Inspector. — Photo courtesy of the Youth Theatre

It is director Chi Trung's first classic play. Trung was voted the best stage director at a festival held in Ha Noi.

"The Government Inspector was written nearly 200 years ago, but its story is still meaningful to us," Trung said.

"The play focuses on corruption, which is of concern to the public. That is why I selected The Government Inspector for the stage."

Trung spent time poring over dozens of scripts from the book entitled One Hundred Stage Masterpieces, launched by Theatre Publishing House.

He had to brainstorm for two months, cutting down a 115-page Vietnamese script to a 61-page play that was ready to be staged over a two-hour period.

The Government Inspector was written by Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol, who is considered to be the father of modern Russian realism. It is among his best known works.

The entire play is based on mistaken identity and on the panic that arises – for good reason – among officials. The actual theme is supposed to have been suggested by Russian writer Alexander Pushkin and, in its time, it was considered a daring piece of work.

The play is set in the early 1800s in a small Russian town where corruption was rampant among officials.

The mayor of the town receives a message that there is to be a visit by a government inspector who will be travelling incognito.

The officials are anxious to get the town straightened out and act in a very sycophantic manner to impress a man they believe to be the inspector. The work portrays the deep corruption of the powers in Russia, the failings of human greed and the stupidity of the gullible.

The crew include veteran composer Dang Huu Phuc, choreographer Lam Yen and stage designer Doan Bang.

Three-dimensional images of ancient villas and architecture of the 19th century will be projected as the stage backdrop.