A PLAY FOR THE PEOPLE
Written by Ibsen in 1882, An Enemy of the People is a powerful drama that reminds us, as a discouraging premonition, how people would go against truth and honesty in order to protect their personal interests. This version, adapted by playwright Amy Herzog and directed by her husband Sam Gold at Circle in the Square Theatre, is elegant, slim and modern even if the intimate ambiance – sets by the design collective dots, oil lamps and candlelight design by Isabella Byrd, and costumes by David Zinn – immediately bring us back to the end of the 19th century. There is even a maid (Katie Broad) sewing in a corner, and a folk song sung live to complete the picture.
Caleb Eberhardt & Victoria Pedretti
We are in a small town in Norway where Dr. Stockmann (Jeremy Strong), the medical director of the town thermal baths, is entertaining guests in his living room. Strong nails the part; his impeccable acting alone makes the play worth seeing. His mannerism is dreamy as the idealist he portrays, and his comically naive interactions with the other characters convince us he is a true believer in social solidarity. Dr. Stockmann lives with his daughter Petra (Victoria Pedretti), a school teacher who enjoys the courtship of Hovstad (Caleb Eberhardt), the editor of the town newspaper, the company of his assistant Billing (Matthew August Jeffers), and of Captain Horster (Alan Trong).
Jeremy Strong
They are all dining at the Stockmanns when they are joined by Peter Stockmann (Michael Imperioli) the doctor’s brother and the town’s mayor. The two brothers couldn’t be more different; the playful yet imperious Imperioli seems to truly enjoy the part of the blowhard politician, keeping a cynical smirk on his face and a phony authoritative posture most of the time. The mayor doesn’t stay for dinner, he feels the company is beneath him, and he misses the plot twist: an important letter for the doctor arrives to confirm that the Bath’s water is severely polluted.
Katie Broad, David Patrick Kelly & Victoria Pedretti
Dr. Stockmann, a honest man with strong convictions, wants to shut down the resort immediately, even if he will lose his job and the Baths, a project born from his original idea to bring health and wealth to his hometown, may never reopen. Petra, Hovstad, and Billing agree; they all believe that public interest rather than private interest is what needs to be addressed and they rush to the newspaper’s printer, Aslaksen (Thomas Jay Ryan), to publish the news.
Michael Imperioli
A moral conflict immediately emerges, placing the two brothers against each other: the mayor is used to political laundering so he tries every possible way to convince his brother to stop his crusade. To him, closing and fixing the thermal baths will aggravate the shareholders and put the town in debt for years. The mayor’s request doesn’t move the doctor but it works with the spineless press; Hovstad, in the past a paladin of the press and the people, withdraws his support when he understands that he may lose his paper, indicating prudence as the lame motive, and Eberhardt is impeccable assuming both sharply contrasted sides of his character, making us feel first his ideals then his desperation against a possible financial ruin.
Victoria Pedretti & Jeremy Strong
Doctor Stockmann still has faith in his fellow citizens and calls for a meeting. It’s intermission time and the audience is invited to have a shot of Norwegian liquor at a bar placed in the middle of the boat-size stage. We are about to see a town meeting and suddenly we become part of it by sharing a drink and listening to Norwegian music.
Victoria Pedretti
At the beginning of the second act, Doctor Stockmann talks to all of us addressing the pollution problem with the needed courage and the right disdain for the false news that diminished its danger. His brother heads the opposition; it’s the second Strong/Imperioli duel, Abel and Cain, and the two actors give us their best creating a truly remarkable moment. In response for his honesty, the doctor is showered with insults by the townspeople (Bill Buel, Joe Cassidy, David Mattar Merten, and Max Roll), ridiculed, persecuted, and ultimately declared an “enemy of the people.”
Victoria Pedretti, Caleb Eberhardt & Jeremy Strong
Even the news that his father-in-law (David Patrick Kelly) bought shares of the company that owns the Baths contributes to discredit the doctor’s name; slander is a well-known weapon of unscrupulous people. Nothing new for us; we are used to selfish politicians’ lies that affect the ability of unaware people to judge a matter wisely, used only to direct popular consensus toward very dangerous decisions that will harm the poor while enriching the already wealthy. Ibsen knew human nature and wrote a timeless piece 142 years ago; this new version and production, shorter but as poignant as the original, is a classic and a memorable play you should not miss.
photos by Emilio Madrid
Circle in the Square Theatre
for tickets, visit An Enemy of the People