and the absurdity of human behavior. At the start of the play, the Governor and various officials are thrown into a state of panic when they learn that an Inspector-General is coming to their town incognito. Fearing exposure of their corruption and incompetence, they start making frantic preparations to present a façade of efficiency and proper conduct. In the midst of this chaos, Khlestakov arrives at the inn, and a series of misunderstandings leads the officials to believe he is the inspector. As they fawn over him and try to impress, Khlestakov—who is only scraping by himself—becomes embroiled in the absurdity of their grandiose attempts to placate him, setting the stage for a hilarious critique of power dynamics and societal pretensions. (This is an automatically generated summary.)