An Inspector Calls

An Inspector Calls is coming to the Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall from Tuesday 29 February to Saturday 4 March 2028. It's Stephen Daldry's National Theatre production of J B Priestley's classic thriller, which first opened in 1992. The play runs one hour 45 minutes with no interval, so you're in and out in a single sitting.

Priestley wrote the play at the end of the Second World War, though it's set before the first. It opens on the engagement of the Birlings' daughter, Sheila, to Gerald Croft, whose celebratory dinner party is crashed by Inspector Goole. He's there to investigate the death of a poor young working-class woman, and as the evening unfolds, it turns out everyone around the table knew her under a different name. Each one bears some guilt for having exploited her for cheap labour, cheap sex and worse.

This particular production has a few signatures to it. Ian MacNeil's set places the Birlings' house above a bleak, rain-soaked street, and Stephen Warbeck provides the score. It's won 19 major awards and has played to more than 6 million theatregoers worldwide since it first opened at the National.

There are plenty of slots to choose from across the week. It opens Tuesday 29 February at 7:30pm, with Wednesday 1 March running a 2pm matinee and a 7:30pm evening show. Thursday 2 March has a 2pm captioned matinee and a 7:30pm evening performance, Friday 3 March is 7:30pm, and Saturday 4 March runs a 2:30pm matinee and a 7:30pm evening show. Tickets range from £22 to £45, with the higher end falling on the Friday and Saturday performances.