An Inspector Calls Eric x fiancée Reader

Chapter 1

The dining room is of a fairly large suburban house, belonging to aprosperous manufacturer. It has a good solid furniture of the period. The generaleffect is a substantial and heavily comfortable but not cosy and homelike. (If arealistic set is used, then it should be swung back, as it was in the production atthe new theatre. By doing this, you can have the dining-table centre downstageduring act one, when it is needed there, and then swinging back, can reveal thefireplace for act two, and then for act three can show a small table with atelephone on it, downstage of the fireplace; and by this time the dining-table andit chairs have moved well upstage. Producers who wish to avoid this trickybusiness, which involves two re-settings of the scene and some very accurateadjustments of the extra flats necessary would be well advised to dispense withan ordinary realistic set if only because the dining-table becomes a nuisance. Thelighting should be pink and intimate until the INSPECTOR arrives and then itshould be brighter and harder.)At rise of curtain, the four Birling's, Gerald and Y/N are seated at the table,with Arthur Birling at one end, his wife at the other, Eric on one end with Y/N and Sheilaand Gerald seated on the other. EDNA, the parlour maid, is just clearing the table,which has no cloth, of the dessert plates and champagne glasses, etc, and thenreplacing them with decanter of port, cigar box and cigarettes. Port glasses arealready on the table. All five are in evening dress of the period, the men in tailsand white ties, not dinner jackets. Arthur Birling is a heavy-looking, ratherportentous man in this middle fifties with fairly easy manners but ratherprovincial in this speech. His wife is about fifty, a rather cold woman and herhusband's social superior. Sheila is a pretty girl in her early twenties, verypleased with life and rather excited. Gerald Croft is an attractive chap aboutthirty, rather too manly to be a dandy but very much the well-bred young manabout-town. Eric is in his early twenties, not quite at ease, half shy, halfassertive. Y/N a girl in her early twenties engaged to Eric, beautiful (h/c) hair and fair (s/c) At the moment they have all had a good dinner, are celebrating two special occasions, and are pleased with themselves. 

Arthur Birling: Giving us the port, Edna? That's right. (He pushes it towardsEric.) you ought to like this port, Gerald, as a matter of fact, Finchley told meit's exactly the same port your father gets from him. 

Gerald: Then it'll be all right. The governor prides himself on being a goodjudge of port. I don't pretend to know much about it. 

Sheila: (gaily, possessively) I should jolly well think not, Gerald, I'd hateyou to know all about port – like one of these purple-faced old men. 

Arthur Birling: here, I'm not a purple-faced old man. 

Sheila Birling: no, not yet. But then you don't know all about port – do you? 

Birling: (noticing that his wife has not taken any) Now then, Sybil, you musta take a little tonight. Special occasion, y'know, eh? 

Sheila: Yes, go on, mummy. You must drink our health. 

Y/N: Please you must! It's not every day your only children get engaged!

Mrs Birling : (smiling) Very well, then. Just a little, thank you. (To Edna, whois about to go, with tray.) all right, Edna. I'll ring from the drawing room whenwe want coffee. Probably in about half an hour. 

Edna: (going) Yes, ma'am. 

// Edna goes out. They now have all the glasses filled. Birling beams at themand clearly relaxes.// 

Birling: Well, well – this is very nice. Very nice. Good dinner too, Sybil. Tellcook from me. 

Gerald: (politely) Absolutely first class. 

Y/N: (Courteous) Best I've ever had.

Mrs Birling: (reproachfully) Arthur, you're not supposed to say such things