JB Priestley’s classic thriller, An Inspector Calls – a tale of death, secrecy and moral dilemma – will be brought to life at the Lantern Arts Centre in Raynes Park this month.

More than 60 years after it was first produced, the story has not lost the ability to engross a modern audience.

Set in the Midlands in 1912, the play interrogates a middle class family’s guilt over the suicide of a young working class girl.

The enigmatic Inspector Goole’s enquiries reveal that, intentionally or not, the wealthy family bear a great deal of responsibility for her demise.

Director John Talbot feels strongly about the play’s moral stance, saying: “JB Priestley had a lot to say about our responsibility to one another within society. The play shows how we cannot simply ignore what happens to our fellow man.

“It is so easy to sit back and let things happen without doing anything ourselves.

“We’ve got a society which can see events unfolding before their eyes through television or the internet and yet it seems simpler than ever to not get involved.”

Talbot decided to take his production in a different direction to another revival running in the West End.

He adds: “I’ve seen the West End show but I didn’t think it worked. It was too much of a spectacle for me. I wanted to focus more on this very British characteristic of trying to keep everything toge- ther in the face of adversity.”

An Inspector Calls, Lantern Arts Centre, Raynes Park, March 23 - 27, £12/£9.50, call 020 8944 5794