Winthrop’s latest theatre production, “An Enemy of the People,” wrapped up on April 12 after a five-day run of showing beginning April 8. The show was originally written by playwright Henrik Ibsen in 1882 and later translated from Norwegian to English in 1890. The play was eventful and surprisingly important to the environment today.
From the beginning to the end of the show, it explored topics of conflict towards personal integrity and public opinion, corruption of politics and truth versus power. The play dwelled on how people with power will abuse it to the point they ignore the truth, so they can reap the benefit.
The play was heavy with philosophical and social subjects that intermingle with the concept of “truth.” People will always fight for what they believe in, even while having someone who will stop them completely. The play builds upon this theme through Dr. Stockmann (Aidan Tibbit), finding through his research that the town’s local municipal baths are contaminated with infusoria and poison which makes them a health hazard and causes illness across the townspeople.
The person who was trying to stop Dr. Stockmann was his older brother. Peter Stockmann (Brandon Dawson) is the town’s mayor and chairman of the municipal bath’s committee. Peter is a man who is prioritizing his job, with the help of political control over the actual truth, rather than truly caring about the health of the townspeople, or even his own relationship with his brother.
Throughout the show we see them argue over this important issue and see how Peter forges the truth away from the townspeople. (Makayla Hines, Sara Montreuil, Connor Rothberg, Meera Chokshi, Parker Odum-Kitterman) He makes them think Dr. Stockmann is the liar, making him truly become an enemy of the people.
Dr. Stockmann even goes as far as trying to publish his research into the newspaper. After, he shares his research with the newspaper staff. Holvstad (Salvatore Biscotto), the editor, questions him about his paper and later becomes one the people that ostracize him. Aslaksen (Mason Hall), the printer of the staff, starts out unsure of believing him, but later is convinced by Peter that the doctor is a liar. Billing (Mark Blankenship-Brown) is another member of the newspaper staff who follows the lead of his boss. Holvstad and only follows the crowd.
In the end, Peter fires his own brother from his job and the people ostracize Dr. Stockmann. His wife’s foster-father, Morten Kiil (Jade Watkins), a wealthy man whose factories are the reason the water is polluted, tries to give Dr. Stockmann hush money, but he rejects it.
Through all of this torment, Dr. Stockmann decides to keep his wife, Katherine (Cara Cole), and daughter, Petra (Riley Suthard) in their home, as well as gaining help from a friend, Captain Horster (Rhianon Chandler). They fight for the truth to be told. He ends the play with a strong statement, “The strongest man in the world is he who stands most alone.”
Hines, one of the student actors who played one of the townsfolk, spoke about her experience on the show and what it meant to her as a part of her acting career.
“With the role of being a townspeople, we were created to be intricate characters to fully immerse ourselves into the story,” Hines said. “Our costumes reflect different levels of class, and mine was the most wealthy.”
“To get into my mentality of my character, I would rely heavily on body language and diction to create this shift,” Hines said. “Fixing posture and focusing on maintaining a stoic nature were small ways I found to shift into character.”
Hines said the play moved her in a personal manner, citing the topics of powers’ ability to corrupt and betrayal as an example.
“I thought a lot about the conflicts within the play reflecting our current political climate today,” Hines said. “It was moving to find the parallels between power imbalances we find within the government today.”
“In a way I view the betrayal between the two brothers to symbolize the betrayal a large majority of Americans feel towards our government,” Hines said.
“An Enemy of the People” was a contemplative political piece that gave the audience a story to consider from a multitude of perspectives. It will continue to leave future viewers reflecting and remembering its story after seeing it.