An Enemy of the People at the Samuel J. Friedman Theater
In the
ingenious new translation of the Heinrik Ibsen play An Enemy of the People by Rebecca Lenkiewicz (and staged by the
Manhattan Theater Club), protagonist Dr. Thomas Stockmann (Boyd Gaines)
declares that the minority may be right, but the majority will always be
wrong. He goes on to say, “The strongest
man in the world is the man who stands most alone.” An
Enemy of the People is the story of Stockmann’s journey from beloved town
medic to a so-called “enemy” who is forced to stand alone, often among an angry
and intolerant throng.
Gaines’
excellent portrayal of Stockmann, by contrast, is that of a manic, excited friend of the people, a man who would do
anything to reveal the truth—sacrificing his livelihood, his inheritance, and
his family’s well-being for the chance to be believed by and to save the
masses. What’s more important, though,
is that Stockmann always seems to be right and the masses wrong, which
epitomizes Ibsen’s belief that the majority is populated by imbeciles and the
minority geniuses. In short, we are on
Stockmann’s side, no matter how many risks he might take or how many chances
for redemption he might gamble away. At
one point he calls himself a freedom fighter, and in these times, when the
definitions of “freedom fighter” and “terrorist” (or “enemy of the people”) are
not so far apart, the play is more relevant than ever.
In a
coastal town in southern Norway, Dr. Stockmann and his brother Peter (Richard
Thomas), mayor of the community, have planned the construction of baths, which
will make their town profitable as a spa destination. Just as the baths are beginning to become
successful, Dr. Stockmann discovers that waste from the local tannery—owned by
his father-in-law, Morten Kiil (Michael Siberry)—has contaminated the
baths. The mayor is at fault, for
refusing to build the baths on higher ground as Dr. Stockmann had
suggested. The doctor thinks he’s made a
praiseworthy discovery, but finds it more difficult than he had expected to
publish his report when his brother comes out against it, on the grounds that
fixing the problem would be too costly an expenditure. During the course of this political thriller,
by turns jarring and humorous, Dr. Stockmann is taken as low as a man can
descend, as his brother, Mayor Stockmann, reaches new heights on the tails of
his brother’s disgrace.
This
production of Enemy is very
well-acted by a dedicated and generous ensemble, and Mr. Gaines simply shines
as Dr. Stockmann opposite a pompous, scheming mayor very well embodied by Mr.
Thomas. There are unexpected and
entertaining twists and turns throughout, and Mr. Gaines makes some
thought-provoking speeches that, needless to say, are not well received by the
townspeople. Also unexpected is a star
turn by lighting designer and Drama Desk award nominee Ben Stanton, whose
interesting uses of candle- and sunlight during some of the pivotal scenes
really bring the action home. And of
course, one cannot leave out the brilliant translation of Ms. Lenkiewicz, who
modernizes the play thoroughly without losing any impact. If not for a paradoxical scene in which a
character claims he “can’t read a word of English,” one would lose sight
entirely of Enemy’s Norwegian
setting.
An Enemy of the People is a riveting
example of a turn-of-the-century play that would have incited political scandal
then and still makes us ponder our political system today. Heinrik Ibsen wrote Enemy in response to the uproar over his previous play, Ghosts, which made reference to
syphilis. Between the critics of Ghosts and the man who wrote a classic
thriller denouncing the views of the majority, I think we can deduce who got
the last laugh.
