An Enemy of the People

Henrik Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People, produced by Theatre for a New City, felt extremely timely and brimming with life for a script written nearly 150 years ago.

For an ensemble-based piece with many characters, I truly felt like all of the actors brought something singular and defining to their roles. There were, of course, a few stand-out performances that need to be mentioned. Molly McDermott’s Doctor Stockmann crackled with energy. McDermott delivered this role with strength and humor, never wavering throughout her lengthy and wordy monologues. Each word was cared for, and the text came to life through this performance. I felt that Stockmann’s arc was beautifully complex and layered, and specifically loved the scene when the doctor learns that what is true is not always what is popular. Olivia Rosselli’s Hovstadd was sleezy and cunning, hungry for a great story, but held their own strength in each scene, giving nobility to a character that could have been nothing more than a depraved muckraker. The other journalist, Billings, portrayed by Jamie Lien, stole attention in most scenes in the best way. Although this is meant to be more of a crony role, I felt Lien hold equally as much power in any given scene as Hovstadd, humming with energy through every moment with or without lines.

Sanio Kurtesevic handled a timeless, yet admittedly droning script with respect. While the story slows a bit in moments, there is life delivered by the ensemble. I was a huge fan of his choice to build a mostly female cast. At first, some of the performances felt like women playing pretend as men, the way little kids do. As the show progressed, I could see how some of those acting choices lent themselves to the underlying message that most public-facing men are presenting a facade. Kurtesevic’s exploration of the themes of personal integrity and the convenience of truth felt really relevant. With the rise in censorship, it was easy to feel great empathy and respect towards Doctor Stockmann. Not only that, but this particular show drew a lot of attention to indecisive, crowd-appealing politicians who stand on nothing to appeal to the masses. Many, if not most, of the characters felt that having a stance as strong as Thomas’ was not worth the financial repercussions, not unlike most modern-day politicians.

I would also like to highlight Act 4, the public assembly scene, where Doctor Stockmann is being tried for his loyalty to his community. The real audience was meant to participate as assembly members, cued not only by house lights up, but by a fun participatory detail in the program: use the program itself to ball up and throw at Doctor Stockmann. While I loved this choice, and I could tell the audience really enjoyed booing and hissing, I think most of the audience was on Stockmann’s side at the moment, so the company had to plant people in the audience to encourage people to be against him. It was confusing to me and took me a few moments to understand. But I loved the energy it brought into the space.

HAPPY FACE