An Enemy of the People (NHB Modern Plays) E-Book

Henrik Ibsen

• Herausgeber: Nick Hern Books
• Kategorie: Poesie und Drama
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

When Dr Stockmann makes a disturbing discovery about the healing waters in his local baths, he holds the future of the whole town in his hands. But doubt spreads faster than disease, and those with everything to lose refuse to accept his word. Soon, a battle is raging – and it goes far beyond contaminated water… Ibsen's provocative play about truth in a society driven by power and money is given a startling contemporary spin in Thomas Ostermeier and Florian Borchmeyer's acclaimed version, which premiered at the Avignon Festival followed by the Schaubühne in Berlin in 2012. It has since toured to more than thirty cities around the world. This edition of An Enemy of the People was published alongside the first English-language production, in a version by Duncan Macmillan. It opened at the Duke of York's Theatre in the West End in 2024, starring Matt Smith and Jessica Brown Findlay. Thomas Ostermeier is a German theatre director, acclaimed for his innovative and often iconoclastic productions of classic and contemporary plays. He is the Artistic Director of the Schaubühne. 'Thrilling… Ibsen's drama scales new heights of excitement and fascination' - Guardian 'Ostermeier is the most important theater director of his generation' - New Republic 'Electrifying… an impassioned examination of society and the powerlessness of democracy to check an abuse of power… Ostermeier is using theatre as a political rallying place, somewhere to ask what we really think' - WhatsOnStage 'Surreal, provocative and very funny… deliciously spikey… fascinating and bracingly direct… Ostermeier blows the themes of the play up in the most thrilling way' - Time Out 'Blistering… full of contemporary resonances' - Financial Times

Leseprobe

Henrik Ibsen

AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE

Adapted by

Thomas Ostermeier and Florian Borchmeyer

English-language version by

Duncan Macmillan

NICK HERN BOOKS

London

Contents

Original Production Details

An Enemy of the People

About the Authors

Copyright and Performing Rights Information

This adaptation of An Enemy of the People was first performed in German at the Avignon Festival, France, on 18 July 2012, before opening at the Schaubühne, Berlin, Germany, on 8 September 2012. The cast was as follows:

DR THOMAS STOCKMANN

Stefan Stern

PETER STOCKMANN

Ingo Hülsmann

MRS STOCKMANN

Eva Meckbach

HOVSTAD

Christoph Gawenda

ASLAKSEN

David Ruland

BILLING

Moritz Gottwald

MORTEN KIIL

Thomas Bading

Director

Thomas Ostermeier

Set Designer

Jan Pappelbaum

Costume Designer

Nina Wetzel

Music

Malte Beckenbach and Daniel Freitag

Dramaturg

Florian Borchmeyer

Lighting Designer

Erich Schneider

Wall Paintings

Katharina Ziemke

The production toured to Melbourne (October 2012), Lyon (January/February 2013), Montreal (May 2013), Quebec (May 2013), Athens (July 2013), Venice (August 2013), São Paulo (September 2013), Buenos Aires (October 2013), New York (November 2013), Paris (January/February 2014), Rennes (March 2014), Siegen (May 2014), Istanbul (May 2014), Oslo (September 2014), London (September 2014), Moscow (October 2014), Belfast (October 2014), Cluj-Napoca (November 2014), Lausanne (February 2015), Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai (February 2015), Naples (June 2015), Pilsen (September 2015), Tbilisi (October 2015), Minsk (October 2015), Bogotá (March 2016), Torún (May 2016), Seoul (May 2016), Copenhagen (June 2016), Santiago de Chile (January 2017), Shizuoka (April 2018), Singapore (May 2018), Gothenburg (August 2018), Beijing (September 2018), Nanjing (September 2018), Chapel Hill and Berkeley (October 2018), Zagreb (October 2019) and Barcelona (June 2022).

This English-language version was first performed at the Duke of York’s Theatre, London, on 20 February 2024 (previews from 6 February), produced by David Binder Productions and Wessex Grove. The cast was as follows:

DR THOMAS STOCKMANN

Matt Smith

KATHARINA STOCKMANN

Jessica Brown Findlay

ASLAKSEN

Priyanga Burford

BILLING

Zachary Hart

PETER STOCKMANN

Paul Hilton

MORTEN KIIL

Nigel Lindsay

HOVSTAD

Shubham Saraf

Understudies

DR THOMAS STOCKMANN

Samuel Armfield

KATHARINA STOCKMANN / ASLAKSEN

Saskia Ashdown

BILLING / HOVSTAD  

Vilberg Andri Pállson

PETER STOCKMANN / MORTEN KIIL

Chris Porter

Director

Thomas Ostermeier

Adaptors

Thomas Ostermeier & Florian Borchmeyer

Set Designer

Jan Pappelbaum

Costume Designer

Natasha Jenkins

Lighting Designer

Urs Schönebaum

Sound Designer & Composer

Ben & Max Ringham

Wall Paintings

Katharina Ziemke

Casting Director

Jim Carnahan CSA

English Version

Duncan Macmillan

Dramaturgs

Florian Borchmeyer & Maja Zade

Associate Director

Jaz Woodcock-Stewart

Musical Director

Candida Caldicott

Associate Musical Director

Nick Pinchbeck

Associate Lighting Designer

Ryan Joseph Stafford

Characters

KATHARINA STOCKMANN

BILLING

MAYOR PETER STOCKMANN

HOVSTAD

THOMAS STOCKMANN

MORTEN KIIL

NINA ASLAKSEN

This ebook was created before the end of rehearsals and so may differ slightly from the play as performed.

FIRST ACT

The Stockmanns’ living room. BILLING sits at the table. KATHARINA STOCKMANN brings food from the kitchen.

KATHARINA. Food’s cold. But if you will show up an hour late –

BILLING. Thank you, Katharina, I’m sure it’s wonderful.

KATHARINA. We’ve been eating earlier since the baby –

BILLING. It’s fine. I like to eat alone. When we eat together it’s like feeding time at the zoo.

Doorbell.

KATHARINA. That must be Hovstad.

BILLING. Finally!

KATHARINA. There’s cheese, too, if you –

BILLING. Tell him – band practice should’ve been half an hour ago.

KATHARINA. Yep.

MAYOR PETER STOCKMANN enters.

PETER. Katharina.

KATHARINA. Peter! Nice of you to drop by!

PETER. I was in the area so I thought I’d – oh, sorry, you have company.

KATHARINA. Oh, no, that’s not anybody. Stay for dinner!

PETER. No thank you, I never eat late.

KATHARINA. Oh, break the rules this once! Billing has been persuaded –

PETER. I have issues with my digestion, so I… Is Thomas not at home?

KATHARINA. He’s circling the block, getting the little one to sleep.

The door, off.

PETER. That must be him now.

HOVSTAD enters.

HOVSTAD. Sorry! I was delayed at the paper.

KATHARINA whispers to him that PETER is here.

Mr Mayor!

PETER. Mr Hovstad! Is this a work meeting?

HOVSTAD. Just band practice. Though I do want to speak with Thomas about an article he’s written.

PETER. It’s a wonder he finds time with all his other responsibilities. Medical officer, new parent – now… amateur journalist?

HOVSTAD. I think he writes to unburden his mind. And to connect with the community.

PETER. Yes, he’s always craved an audience.

KATHARINA. Hovstad – would you like some wine?

HOVSTAD. Yes, thank you.

PETER. It must be frustrating, at your tabloid, Hovstad. You became editor-in-chief promising to expose corruption in local government, to ‘drain the swamp’…

HOVSTAD. Those aren’t the words I would’ve –

PETER.…but all you’ve had to report on is rising house prices, falling unemployment! Finally the council has tax revenues for something better than purely social spending…

HOVSTAD. A free and fair press cares only for the truth, Mayor Stockmann! But I’m not sure you can claim all the credit for the reversal in our town’s fortunes. The spa was your brother’s idea, after all.

PETER. He may have conceived of the project but I initiated it. I executed it. My brother has no shortage of ideas but, without men of action such as myself, they seldom amount to much.

HOVSTAD. And what of the paper? How much credit should we claim? Some of our articles have been syndicated to the national press, linked globally. There’d be no ‘wellness tourism’ here if people hadn’t heard about the baths.

KATHARINA. Thomas gives all his time to the baths.

PETER. One would hope so. It is his employer.

HOVSTAD. He wrote a great piece earlier this year that will have the spa booked out for years! It just wasn’t the right time to put it out. I felt now would be better, what with people planning their summer holidays –

PETER. Yes! Good! We need to have a busy summer! I’m glad we have a common goal, Mr Hovstad. The prosperity of this town! You see, this is Thomas’s problem – he’s a lone wolf! A law unto himself, always taking matters into his own hands! We have a marketing team, a PR strategy – and he just blunders ahead without consultation.

KATHARINA. Hovstad, have something to eat. Peter, can’t you and Thomas share the glory, as brothers?

PETER. Happily, Katharina! But it takes two to share.

THOMAS STOCKMANN enters, pushing a pram.

STOCKMANN. He’s asleep!

KATHARINA. Thomas, look who’s here!

STOCKMANN. Peter? Hi!

PETER. Thomas. How are you?

STOCKMANN. This is unexpected! A drink! Let’s –

PETER. I can’t stay long.

STOCKMANN. I’ll open some red.

PETER. No, please –

STOCKMANN. Anyone seen the corkscrew?

KATHARINA. No.

PETER. Thomas, please. I’m not a huge fan of boozing.

STOCKMANN. We’re not boozing. We’re ‘having a drink’.

PETER. The looks of them – I wouldn’t be so sure.

STOCKMANN. Oh relax! It’s nice for us to host – we could never do that before! Can’t you take a moment to acknowledge how good things are? This is the first time in my life I’ve felt this way – that I can make a positive impact. Work for the common good. There’s nothing I can do about the biggest problems facing the world but here, in our little, provincial town, I can make a difference. Change is possible!

PETER. Change?

STOCKMANN. Yes! Has there been any post, Katharina?

KATHARINA. I haven’t checked.

STOCKMANN. All those long, brutal years of medical school, living off instant noodles and student loans, the world going to shit – it all seemed so bleak! Then we came back here, Katharina got pregnant, I became medical officer for the baths… there’s nothing like living through hardship to make you appreciate finally getting a decent salary!

PETER. And nothing will make you feel hopeful about the world quite like an uptick in your own personal circumstances. Perhaps, with your new-found fortunes, you could hire a cleaner once in a while.

STOCKMANN. Not now, Peter. I would really like you to get to know Hovstad a little better –

PETER and HOVSTAD. We’ve met.

PETER. He tells me he intends to publish another of your articles. About the baths. Look, Thomas –

KATHARINA. Look, Peter!

She brings the baby over to PETER.

PETER. He’s asleep, is he? Does he always clench his fists like that?

KATHARINA. Always!

STOCKMANN. And he snores!

PETER. This article you’ve written – it sounds like it would be a great advert for the baths –

STOCKMANN. Oh, right – that one. Of course. Yes – but – I don’t think it’s best moment right now.

PETER. Why not? Now is the perfect time!

STOCKMANN. Yes – under normal circumstances –

PETER. What isn’t normal about now?

STOCKMANN. I can’t really say, Peter, not just yet. Maybe it’s nothing at all. I might just be imagining things.

PETER. That sounds cryptic. Is something up? Let’s not play games, Thomas. As Chairman of the Bath Committee I insist that things come through the proper channels.

STOCKMANN. Can we not argue?

PETER. I’m not arguing, Thomas! I promise!

But…

There’s a way things are done! Rules that must be obeyed.

STOCKMANN. What does that have to do with me?