Ibsen’s seminal, late 19th century play, An
Enemy of the People, was, in part, a
response to the public outcry against his earlier play Ghosts, attacking the hypocrisy of Victorian morality with
thinly veiled references to syphilis and familial responsibility. In an age of ebola, AIDS, rampant poverty, and
global warfare against all that threatens the greasy mechanisms of late capitalist excess, An
Enemy of the People becomes a latent,
prophetic war cry in the midst of all that we live with in the twenty first
century. Toronto, in particular, as we prepare to choose a municipal leader who
will either lead us further into - or gradually out of - the pitfalls of
unrestricted urban growth (i.e. unaffordable real estate, gas guzzling
highways, massive and intrusive subway systems) may take note as the current
Tarragon theatre production of Ibsen’s scathing cautionary tale takes the
stage with immense political power and artistic excellence.
Adapted by Florian Borchmeyer and translated by Maria
Milisavljevic, this contemporary version was first seen by director Richard
Rose at the Schaubühne Theatre in Berlin in 2013. In his program note Rose
articulates specific Canadian concerns that relate to the play’s central
narrative theme -
The contemporary take both in adaptation and production
spoke so clearly, so directly and with complexity to the current Canadian
struggle of environment versus economy. Tar sands, climate change, fracking,
pipelines, Walkerton, the cod and salmon fisheries, all came to mind as I
experienced this production. I knew instantly that we had to do it.
With the aid of a brilliant cast and crew, Rose has created
a spectacular one hundred and five minute - no intermission - evening of
explosive social and political action that clips along at a breakneck pace. A
section near the end that raises the houselights and includes audience members
is both entertaining and harrowing as skilled actors stay in character and
challenge any given spectators thoughts on the issues being raised. It is
difficult to single out any one performer as the seven member ensemble creates a
collage of rhythmic highs and lows that literally fill the stage with music,
mayhem, and dark, at times sardonic humor. Ibsen’s text both mocks and attempts to
re-negoiate the complex values of a culture struggling with a social apparatus
that traps its population within diverse and seemingly impossible scenarios.
Perhaps the biggest star of the evening is the set - by Michelle Tracey. An
almost childlike chalkboard studio is created for the action to take place and
to mutate within. Complex set changes have actors playing double duty with
stage management as they re-arrange the rooms with quick and entertaining abandon. A finale of literal white washing is both humorous and
terrifying as people and ideas are splattered and blown out of town -
destroying political ideals and lives for the sake of economic prowess and urban growth.
Small town livelihood is revealed as a satellite product of mammoth urban development, and the contaminated baths of the once pristine village become a symbol
of a global village ablaze with the worst kind of unrestricted growth shrouded
by the dubious notion of industrial progress.
Rick Roberts as Peter and Joe Cobden as Stockmann lock horns
as brothers who can never see eye to eye on what is best for their town. Stock
characters abound as Roberts plays the charismatic corporate type while Cobden
creates an idealistic, gangly version of a doctor attuned to the health of the townspeople as
the most important element of personal and public priority.
When the two actors
engage onstage it is loud, exciting, and pure politically charged
entertainment. Their supporting cast mingles with the story at hand, adding soap
opera’ish twists and turns throughout. Tamara Podemski as Stockmann’s wife
creates a powerful, at times conflicted counterpart to Cobden’s wide eyed
social conscience, while Matthew Edison and Brandon McGibbon create a kind of
newspaper boy team that beguiles with youthful charm at the outset, and then
switches moral codes as the stakes get higher. Tom Barnet’s villainous
presence, interspersed throughout as an almost cartoon’ish comic strip foil,
highlights Richard Rose’s directorial choices as conscious attempts to reveal
the simultaneously shallow depth of the very serious problems at hand.
One leaves the theatre feeling enervated, entertained, and
fully engaged in a timeless, symbolic drama that resonates with an intensely foreboding
tone. And against all odds, depressing times, in the hands of a brilliant production
team, become the fuel for intriguing debate in the form of truly great theatre.
AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE RUNS
AT TARRAGON THEATRE UNTIL
When the two actors
engage onstage it is loud, exciting, and pure politically charged
entertainment. Their supporting cast mingles with the story at hand, adding soap
opera’ish twists and turns throughout. Tamara Podemski as Stockmann’s wife
creates a powerful, at times conflicted counterpart to Cobden’s wide eyed
social conscience, while Matthew Edison and Brandon McGibbon create a kind of
newspaper boy team that beguiles with youthful charm at the outset, and then
switches moral codes as the stakes get higher. Tom Barnet’s villainous
presence, interspersed throughout as an almost cartoon’ish comic strip foil,
highlights Richard Rose’s directorial choices as conscious attempts to reveal
the simultaneously shallow depth of the very serious problems at hand.
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