Timely as ever: TimeLine Theatre inaugurates new home with superb ‘Enemy of the People’
“An Enemy of the People” — 4 stars
It’s hard to imagine a time when Henrik Ibsen’s “An Enemy of the People” isn’t relevant.
The ever-resonant 1882 play about power elites choosing profits over people, politics over principles and self-interest over everything else is as timely as today’s headlines.
Just how timely was evidenced by audience members’ rapturous applause and rueful laughter to several significant moments in TimeLine Theatre Company’s bracing revival of Amy Herzog’s 2024 adaptation, which inaugurates TimeLine’s stylish new home in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood.
Rooted in the conflict between public good and economic interest, Ibsen’s examination of corruption, hypocrisy and self-dealing centers on whistleblower Dr. Thomas Stockmann (Will Allan), a Norwegian physician who discovers the groundwater feeding the local spa (and economic engine) is contaminated. His attempts to warn the community are stymied by elected officials, business leaders and members of the media worried about the devastating economic impact of such a revelation.
Thomas shares his findings with Hovstad (an aggressively enterprising Grayson Kennedy), a newspaper editor and champion of the poor, the cautious printer Aslaksen (the decorously opportunistic Anish Jethmalani), who represents the town’s business owners and tradesmen, and reporter Billing (Kenneth Hamilton), who’s giddy at the prospect of toppling town leaders.
Thomas’ calculating brother Peter (a subtly strategic Behzad Dabu), the town’s mayor, is skeptical. Questioning the validity of Thomas’ claims, he opposes making them public. He insists the cost of repairs (to be borne by taxpayers), the shuttering of the spa and the subsequent loss of tourism will decimate the town.
Self-assured Campbell Krausen plays Thomas’ ever-loyal, forward-thinking daughter Petra, a peacemaker skilled at diffusing tempers and sidestepping suitors. David Parkes is his vengeful father-in-law Morten Kiil, whose tannery is the source of the contaminated water, and Charles Andrew Gardner is Thomas’ honorable friend Captain Horster.
Nearly every character is morally compromised, with each of them driven by a personal agenda that trumps the public good. Hovstad wants to take “down these backward, bigoted old men who hold the keys to the power in our town”; Morten wants revenge on the officials who kicked him off the town council; Aslaksen wants to preserve his wealth; and Peter wants to hold onto power.
The people’s welfare, that’s secondary.
Director Ron OJ Parson’s brisk, passionate, impressively acted production builds quietly and deliberately. Parson’s pacing is evident early on in a nicely calibrated exchange between Allan’s effusive Thomas and Dabu’s cagey Peter. Revealing the tension underscoring their relationship, the scene also foreshadows the explosive confrontation that opens the second act.
It unfolds during a town-hall meeting, where Thomas’ onetime supporters — alarmed by the mayor’s dire predictions — become his adversaries.
Parson stages the increasingly contentious scene by placing several of the characters in the audience. Wise decision that, making theatergoers bear witness to (and be complicit in) leaders’ attempts to silence dissent.
It paid off. At the weekend matinee I attended, the applause in response to a particularly impassioned bit of dialogue about free speech stopped the actors mid-scene.
Allan (who seems determined to make eye contact with everyone in the audience) plays Thomas with tempered zeal, ideally embodying the physician’s unwavering confidence and his naivete, which blinds him to how fiercely his erstwhile allies will protect their own interests.
Case in point: The rebuke he hurls at Hovstad during the chaotic town-hall — “You’re worse than them, because you should know better” — hurts him as much as it does the newsman.
The action unfolds on John Culbert’s gray, weathered set, which extends up and over the thrust stage, whose austerity keeps the focus on the unceasing challenge of speaking truth to power, which, as evidenced here, frequently concludes unhappily.
But not without hope. What strikes me about “An Enemy of the People” is its call for perseverance: in championing free speech, advocating for science and pursuing the truth. Whatever the cost.
• • •
Location: TimeLine Theatre Company, 5035 N. Broadway, Chicago, (773) 281-8463, ext. 1, or timelinetheatre.com
Showtimes: 7 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday; 7:30 p.m. Friday; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday, through June 14
Tickets: $62-$95
Running time: About 2 hours, with intermission
Parking: $10 validated parking at 5051 N. Broadway; $7 at 5017 N. Winthrop via an app and QR code
Rating: For teens and older