An Enemy of the People – Sheffield Crucible

Writer: Henrik Ibsen

Version by: Christopher Hampton

Director: Daniel Evans

Reviewer: Audrey Pointer

The Public Reviews Rating:

New Artistic Director Daniel Evans fanfares his inaugural season at the newly renovated Crucible Theatre with a big play of public and political themes by one of world drama’s leading figures. Ibsen’s 1881 play Ghosts had shocked audiences and An Enemy of the People was written in response to what Ibsen saw as a hypocritical public outcry. Unsure of the nature of his play, Ibsen said “…it has much of the character of a comedy, but there is also a serious basic theme.”

Ibsen’s mouthpiece, the jovial Dr. Tomas Stockmann (Antony Sher) discovers that the new spa baths he and his brother Peter (John Shrapnel) have championed are being contaminated by effluent from the local tannery. However, the solution would mean financial ruin for the town. Truth and corruption intertwine. How Tomas goes about addressing the issue will earn him the title “an enemy of the people.”

Directed impeccably by Daniel Evans, the play gives a delicious sense of the scope of possible future Crucible productions. The moody lighting by Tim Mitchell and sparsely furnished thrust stage create a big space which work well for intimate and large scale scenes alike. In the newspaper office, conversations between characters standing twenty feet apart seem to emphasise the widening gap between Tomas and public opinion. Act two’s public meeting sees the stage heavily peopled with the large community cast of sixty townspeople. Ben Stones’ magnificent set provides glimpses into spaces within and without and effortlessly changes from comfortable home to desolate attic.

Antony Sher convincingly conveys the different sides of Dr Stockmann – an affable yet naïve fellow in act one, though later becoming pompous as he desperately tries to defend his claims. With great skill he manages to find humour even in the darkest moments and his common touch sits well with a modern audience. Although the play is inevitably about its central character, the whole cast works well together, with good supporting performances from Phillip Joseph as Aslaksen, Trystan Grevelle as Hovstad and newcomer Brodie Ross as Billing.

An Enemy of the People fairly gallops along, providing enjoyment whilst conveying serious political ideas about society and the individual with fascinating modern parallels. At a time when the world struggles to recover from one of its worst financial crises and face up to its global responsibility on pollution, it makes a point without missing a trick. Go see!