Review: An Enemy of the People

“I propose to raise a revolution,” Dr. Stockmann declares at the climax of the drama, “Against a lie that the majority has the monopoly of the truth.” An Enemy of the People explores issues of love, honour, and personal integrity in a poignant narrative. Director Magdalena Gabrysiak’s rendition understands and dexterously captures these timeless socio-political contentions of democracy, environmentalism, and corruption in Ibsen’s drama.

Image credits: Magdalena Gabrysiak

While the opening scenes find the audience all too abruptly immersed into a world of lavish Scandi colours and complex, playful dialogue, the quick-fire delivery of the cast and the wittiness of Ibsen’s script welcome us quickly into their home. The staging is almost perfect, never distracting and always engaging – it’s like an IKEA children’s showroom done right, and there’s very little rearranging of props.

Whether intended or not, there are also some moments of genuinely hilarity when it comes to these props, and to the enthusiastic audience participation, neither of which ruffle our warring Norwegians in the slightest. This design played well into the naturalistic vein Ibsen operates within.

With a large cast of twelve, the acting was broadly engaging and pleasing: comedic at moments, poignant at others. At minor points it was slightly shaky, but this can be forgiven for the sheer number of lines memorised.

A snapshot from the rehearsals. Image credits: Magdalena Gabrysiak

Iona Rogan, as the malcontent mayor of the drama – Pavla Stockmann – was exceptional. With flawless delivery, a continual ability to captivate the audience, and a comedic subtly, this adept performance brought the character to life. Joe Harrington also delivered an impressive performance as the protagonist Dr. Stockmann. Alert to the character’s emotional nuance, his moments of hubris, and the complexities of his integrity in the “truth”, it was a successful embodiment of the protagonist with whom Ibsen explores his dramatic preoccupations.

Together, the leads Joe Harrington and Iona Rogan carry us powerfully and expertly through the increasingly tense acts; the dry humour and nefariousness of Greg Brunt’s Hofstad and Zachary Green’s Alaksen play off each other perfectly. The acting talent on display here extends to even the minor roles, with a compelling performance from Jasper Cresdee-Hyde and some young dramatists, too.

Many of the creative decisions of director Magdalena Gabrysiak were effective. Metatheatre was utilised in the second half to create genuine laugh-out-loud moments. Much of this had been drawn out of the text and transformed in performance, which is impressive in that it held up for a nineteenth-century, translated play. Yet there were moments the tone seemed slightly off. Perhaps that is to the credit and uniqueness of this rendition – restyling moments of sorrow into points of serio-comic amusement.

Image credits: Magdalena Gabrysiak

The subject matter of the play, too, is handled with ease. Ibsen’s style of writing is expertly directed and adapted – the intellectualism is not lost, nor is the comedy. The tirades on the virtues of democracy, the double-crossing, and the smaller, more intimate moments of relationships are all handled with ease, and what unfolds is a story that – if you simply read the plot online – you may not believe could be made so compelling.

Credit must also be given to Rebecca Brooke’s and Stephanie Cho’s immersive use of lighting at moments in the performance. Slight, technical additions such as these really did enhance the performance’s heights.

One critique would perhaps be pacing. With such a long run-time, editing the script would have potentially aided solving this issue. Moreover, the inclusion of fewer lines would have prevented some moments of shaky delivery where it seemed there were just too many lines to remember. Yet this only makes it all the more impressive that the performance wound up being cohesive, well-memorised and executed excellently in key scenes by all actors involved, even despite the long script.

This rendition of an Ibsenian classic can proudly pronounce itself a success.

4/5

An Enemy of the People is running from Tuesday 1st until Saturday 5th February at the ADC Theatre. You can get your tickets here. 

Feature image credits: Magdalena Gabrysiak