Blackwood Players Inc reimagine Gogol’s The Government Inspector, shifting the action from 19th-century Russia to an Australian outback town brimming with small-town politics, local corruption, and community quirks that will ring undeniably true to regional audiences. Terri Brabon’s adaptation proves how a classic text can be reborn in a distinctly Australian context — retaining its satirical bite while speaking directly to contemporary experience. Imperial bureaucracy is replaced by small-town power plays and property development; the humour becomes sharper, more colloquial, and culturally specific. Witty local references and Australian idioms give the satire a fresh edge. One standout line: “Corruption is like COVID. Nobody wants it. We all know it’s bad but we’ve learned to live with it.”

Blackwood Players are a long-standing and valued member of Adelaide’s community theatre scene. This production of Alan Ayckbourn’s Comic Potential begins a decidedly new direction for the company and they have stepped out with purpose and drive. With the experienced Greg Elliott as director, the cast has realised the playwright’s exploration of where the intrusion of AI could be leading us. It largely treats the topic with light humour but there is an underlying sense of warning.

“It’s not enough to be programmed to say something funny. You’ve got to feel it’s funny. That’s what comedy is — a human reaction, not a mechanical reflex.”