As I write this, a headline has just popped up on newsfeed: “TV Reporter who exposed corruption in the EU found brutally murdered and raped”. It sits against last night’s opening of An Enemy of the People at Belvoir.
It would be difficult to over-estimate the influence off Henrik Ibsen’s work on the world stage and the relevance and flexibility of his work never abates. An Enemy of the People may have premiered in Europe 1882 but its issues of whistleblowing on an environmental and financial disaster (or any other wrongdoing) and the punishing consequences for the one who speaks up and out are as true as ever. Witness what has happened to Victoria Marinova; to Christine Ford calling out Brett Kavanaugh, or closer to home, the struggle of the marine scientist calling out damage to the Great Barrier Reef or the suffering endured by those nurses who called out problems at Campbelltown and Camden hospitals. The whistleblowers are vilified as vested interests appeal to the worst instincts of we, the people.
In An Enemy of the People, a doctor stands against an entire town when the discovery of toxic pollution threatens to close the medicinal spa. Reworking the script to cast Dr Stockman (the brilliant Kate Mulvaney) as a woman adds layers of complexity, violence and misogyny to the production. The opening scene of Act 2 becomes not just physically threatening but sexually threatening too as she is shouted down by a group of men who, entrenched in their sense of power and right, surround her, jeering, overtalking, abusing her until her safety is completely compromised. It is an incredibly powerful second half which underscores how much higher the stakes are for a woman. Mulvaney perfectly captures the flawed character who unexpectedly finds herself championing the rights of people to be informed. She is a little vain, a little naïve, at times doubts herself (who doesn’t?) but essentially a good person who after inner struggles, takes on the dangerous act of battling the establishment, finding strength in the women around her: a cynical Randine, who is the only one who really understands how the system works (Catherine Davis) and a selfless, crusading daughter Petra (Nikita Waldron).
It is likely that Dr Steadman’s rant against the poor will always be seen by the PC brigade as offensive; but Mulvaney does a stunning righteous justice to Ibsen’s argument; how can the poor be involved in public issues when they are struggling to survive the next twenty-four hours? When their only source of information is a media owned and operated by those in power? When their ignorance and desperation make it impossible for them to participate in a meaningful way?
Act 2 delivers what Act 1 does not. In the first half here was a strong sense of disconnect not just between the actors on stage but between the actors and the audience. This may have much to do with the design. Locking the actors behind glass walls for a whole scene may serve the metaphor of the play but it does not serve audience engagement. At times, it was even difficult to see them as framework masked performance. Further metaphors 
about characters wandering around in a fog may be slightly funny but rather simplistic. The design pays off in the last scene but sacrificing the first act for a statement in the last scene seems a hell of a price to pay.
Director Anne-Louise Sarks and writer Melissa Reeves have worked hard to reimagine Ibsen’s play in todays political climate with varying degrees of success. It is certainly timely, but a powerful Act 2 seems like a different play. Suddenly we are in immersive, interactive theatre. This half has a strength and vitality missing from the first half. The mashing up of theatrical styles is somewhat unsatisfactory because it is awkward. There is also an unevenness in performance affecting commitment and energy on stage which, again, is redeemed in Act 2.
You see this play for Act 2. The irony of the evening had to be a standing ovation for a play which attacked the empty gestures of the very people attending.
Photography: Brett Boardman
Kate Stratford – Theatre Now
An Enemy Of The People
Melissa Reeves after Henrik Ibsen
7 Oct – 4 Nov 2018
Tuesday & Wednesday 6.30pm
Thursday & Friday 8pm
Saturday 2pm & 8pm
Sunday 5pm
Previews (bookable)
6.30pm, 7 October
8pm, 9 October
8pm, 10 October
Venue: Belvoir Theatre
Theatre Company: Belvoir Theatre
Duration: 2 Hours 10 Minutes including interval
