‘Empty the rubbish bins,” orders the bombastic mayor (Richard Gledhill). More offensively, he then tells a local official: “Do something about your bad breath”. No stone must be left unturned in the mayor’s attempts to present a squeaky-clean impression to the government inspector who, it is rumoured, will shortly be arriving to check out this small Russian town. And squeaky-cleanliness must extend to financial matters too — a difficult job when everyone from the mayor himself to the decidedly available postmistress (Laura Davies) is on the fiddle.

Director Joanna Matthews populated her Oxford Theatre Guild production of Gogol’s satirical comedy The Government Inspector with a gallery of colourful characters. From the mayor’s mincing gay sidekicks (Daniel Irving and David Wiles) to the grovelling shopkeepers who are a little too anxious to please (David Smith and Philippa Bilton), all have something to hide — not least the new arrival in town, who everyone assumes is the inspector himself (Joe O’Connor, who convincingly transformed from a man down on his luck into a man who can’t believe his luck). Alas, it does not occur to the mayor that a nosy government official is most unlikely to draw attention to himself by wearing tight purple trousers.

This is a show that demands a fast pace, split second timing, and an ability to integrate the audience into the action. The Theatre Guild cast worked hard, but seemed preoccupied with the delivery of endless fidgety hand gestures, and instructions to shout out the lines in a declamatory, uninvolving fashion. So there was little outright laughter at the performance I attended, even a topical reference to “the plebs” caused only a mild titter.

THREE STARS