^{Picture: Michael Slobodian}

When Nikolai Gogol wrote his damning reflection on life in Imperial Russia in 1836, he may have harboured a small hope that things would get better. But the political corruption, human greed and petty bureaucracy evident in The Government Inspector are rarely in short supply today, regardless of which country you lay your head in.

Almost two full centuries later, choreographer Crystal Pite and theatre-maker Jonathon Young were acutely aware of this when they created Revisor, their dance-theatre take on Gogol’s play. Pite has been a force to be reckoned with ever since she hung up her pointe shoes in 2000, bidding adieu to William Forsythe’s Ballett Frankfurt to focus full-time on choreography. Since then, the talented Canadian has never knowingly created a boring step, bejewelling the repertoires of Nederlands Dans Theater, Paris Opera Ballet and the Royal Ballet to name but a few. 

^{Picture: Michael Slobodian}

All the while, her own inter-disciplinary company Kidd Pivot has been producing contemporary dance works that make you sit up and listen: literally in this case. Performed by eight dancers, Revisor is set to words from Gogol’s play, delivered and recorded by Canadian actors. Each twitching shoulder, reaching arm and extended leg ebbs and flows to the sound of their voices, as the tale of local political incompetence unfolds. 

Garnering five-star reviews wherever it’s played, this thought-provoking, compelling work matches Pite’s characteristically accessible choreography with a subject matter we can all relate to that, sadly, isn’t going away anytime soon. 

Her Majesty’s Theatre, Grote Street, 17 March, 8pm, 18 March, 7pm, 19 March, 2pm.