As a tattered curtain rises, rain pours down onto the stage and fog billows.

It's a portentous start to this production of JB Priestley's An Inspector Calls, the 20th time film director Stephen Daldry's version of the classic tale has been staged.

A house teeters on stilts in the centre of the stage, wonky in perspective and slightly surreal.

It sets the Birling family inside it high above the bleak cobblestone street below, a physical reflection of how they perceive themselves in society.

They are celebrating the engagement of daughter Sheila to Gerald Croft and despite the off-kilter setting, it seems as if a traditional tale is to be told.

But soon after the titular inspector appears, their privileged world begins to unravel as character after character is taken to task by their mysterious visitor.

Inspector Goole is investigating the apparent suicide of a young woman earlier that evening and every member of the family, along with Gerald Croft, is questioned, gradually revealing their involvement in her demise.

A group of onlookers silently observes their plight, the conscience of the characters made flesh.

And as their actions are uncovered, their gradual mental disarray also becomes physical, with their evening finery rumpled and discarded, hair unpinned, and their poise and bearing broken down.

Even the house loudly falls apart as the family reacts to the shattering of their world, only to be slowly pieced back together.

Liam Brennan, as Inspector Goole, commands the stage as he becomes more and more animated and accusing. His impassioned soliloquy towards the end asks the audience to consider how their actions impact on each other and focus on the common good.

Katherine Jack inspires a degree of sympathy for Sheila Brennan, who seems almost alone in her willingness to repent her actions.

But just when all seems to be restored to calm, there's a final twist to the tale.

Also appearing in this production were a trio of young local performers, Bailey Crosby from Minster, Darcy Priston from Herne Bay and Murray Ethel from Folkestone, all members of The Marlowe Youth Theatre.