An Enemy of the People: Creative chaos is a necessity in this refreshingly contemporary reading of Ibsen at the Festival TransAmérique.
Photo: Festival TransAmérique
What makes this production of Ibsen’s Enemy of the People so refreshing is the relaxed, hyper realistic presence of these excellent young actors, whose characters have been reconfigured in a contemporary urban space. Jan Pappelbaum’s modern loft-like set, where Dr. Thomas Stockmann lives with his wife and baby, and receives his friends, seemed to be constantly shifting like a flashing video creation. Thoma Ostermeier’s reading of the play is fresh, bright, contemporary and ear-splitting; the characters are also part of a rock band that roars over the sound system as soon as one of the members puts on the earphones.
