DEEPLY thought provoking and tense, An Inspector Calls is a truly classic play.

Altrincham Garrick’s production of Priestley’s masterpiece is so good my eyes were glued to the stage throughout, a tribute to director John Chidgey and a very fine cast.

Paul Wilson has a powerful stage presence as Inspector Goole, the mysterious character who ruins the cosy family celebration of the Birlings, with some disturbing revelations regarding a young woman’s harrowing death, a young woman denied help when she needed it most.

I can’t remember the last time a performance excited me so much and I hope this is the start of a long, long association with this 100 year old society.

But Paul is in very good company, with Richard Sails excelling as self-made businessman Arthur Birling, a champion of the “survival of the fittest” philosophy. Beverley Stuart-Cole is positively hateful as Arthur’s horrible, hard faced wife Sybil and it’s impossible not to warm to their daughter, Sheila, thanks to Laura Whitehurst. This character and her brother Eric offer some hope for the future, in a play that’s as much a plea for social compassion as it is a compelling drama.

An Inspector Calls played to a packed house on Monday night. It’d be a crime if this isn’t repeated throughout the run as this is for me, the Garrick’s best production of 2013. Magnificent.

* Until November 16. The box office is on 0161 928 1677. Star rating - *****