Lauded German ensemble Schaubühne Berlin tackle Ibsen again after last year’s sold-out, ultra-modern interpretation of Hedda Gabler, affirming their ability to draw out themes that resonate with modern audiences. An Enemy Of The People is no different. Thomas Stockmann, the questionably hip doctor, discovers the town’s newest tourist attraction – The Baths – are contaminated with dangerous degrees of effluent. Though initially lauded as a hero, the machinations of political sabotage from people in power see him become an ousted pariah, endangering the livelihood of the townfolk with his efforts to expose the truth.
Punctuated with contemporary music, from Gnarls Barkly to Bowie, there’s no question this reinvention of the 1882 play is thoroughly of the now. Using a global backdrop of shrinking privacy concerns, environmental crisis, spreading immigration panic and environmental upsets, this parable vocalises modern neuroses and analyses our inhibitions.
A highlight was a farcical staged community meeting where the audience’s involvement was required: politics in action. Hands shot up as a feisty opening night crowd yelled out suggestions of ways to restructure society. Socialism? Town planning? Paint bombs flew onstage from cast members seated in the audience.
An Enemy Of The People grapples with the notion that civilisation has robbed us of individual agency with the overriding principle that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. You leave feeling disturbingly small.
BY BELLA ARNOTT-HOARE
