Review: Enemy of the People at Slingsby Hall of Possibility
Review by Lisa Lanzi
One of Adelaide’s daring independent theatre companies, Famous Last Words, has taken an Ibsen play and fashioned a relevant, contemporary interpretation – I daresay Henrik Ibsen (1828 – 1906), rather a revolutionary thinker himself, would be delighted to see their words and themes viewed through this contemporary lens. The Norwegian playwright juxtaposed realistic characters and controversial social issues within serious theatrical productions (some of which were not well received), exposing societal hypocrisy, traditional gender roles, and individual morality of 19th-century middle-class society. Ibsen remains the most performed dramatist in the world second only to Shakespeare.
James Watson, a graduate of both NIDA and Flinders University, has adapted and directed this distilled, compressed version of Enemy of the People where characters’ ages are somewhat younger in range and genders swapped, yet always powerfully depicted. Assembling a fine, very talented cast, Watson has shortened the play and has been imaginative with staging. The audience sits on three sides while the performers enter and leave the stage via a number of pathways, or indeed, sit amongst the viewers, sometimes vocalizing their text prior to being seen. In one section, house lights are brought up and the setting shifts to a kind of town hall meeting where the audience becomes the crowd, sometimes even proffered a microphone and invited to weigh in on proceedings. I am a fan of creating settings from and with very little, and this production nails the impressionistic depiction of various scenes as the actors shift chairs, a table, and the few props.
It appears abundantly clear that clashes between public interest, civic responsibility, economic anxiety, family allegiance and craven self-interest are as relevant in 2026 as they were when the play premiered in 1882. We follow attempts by Dr Stockmann (James Starbuck) to spread word of dangerous bacterial contamination in the waters of a new spa resort slated to be the town’s cash cow. Based on truth in Ibsen’s day (a cholera outbreak in the small spa town of Teplitz in what’s now the Czech Republic), the warning is that the ‘majority’ is often wrong when led by fear, ignorance, or self-interest rather than reason or justice.
Cast members Starbuck, Kate Owen (Martha), Virginia Blackwell (Hannah Hovstad), Bonet Fimeri (Alice Aslaksen), Eliza Barnes (Morten Keel), and Emelia Williams as Stockmann’s wife Kate are all excellent in their roles injecting each emotional journey with care and believability. The pace is kept brisk and scenes flow seamlessly however the extreme acoustic resonance in the venue is not disposed to flatter live theatre vocals; though this does not overly detract from the performance and the Company certainly have no control over it.
Ibsen’s distinctive voice and leanings toward social observation allow Watson to incorporate mention of Adelaide’s and South Australia’s current contentious environmental and political issues, and they fit very well within the narrative: The disastrous algal bloom, the stupendously misguided proposed destruction of our parklands for a motorbike race, climate denial, and just a smattering of Hanson-esque vitriol. Cast interactions were fiery and intense creating superb tension with exemplary vocal and emotional commitment: Stockmann and his sister, the mayor; the fraught conversations between Stockmann and the other characters, where themes of denial of justice, selfish financial or status gains, and gaslighting were explored. No character is without some flaw or deficit, except perhaps Kate, although her love for her husband is not constant enough to survive the ensuing chaos. Stockmann himself, though on the ‘right’ side of truth and justice, falls into arrogance and blinkered truth-telling.
James Watson has led this production with precision and with superb insight as well as shaping the excellent staging and subtle elements of immersion that never intimidate. The other creatives too have contributed much. Streamlined lighting states from Steven Durey work simply and well as does the wonderful sound score by Oscar Sarre. Some images will linger such as Stockmann being pelted with water balloons, and the final, poignant scene where Kate speaks of her attachment to her unborn child – a child that seems destined not to be, after she swims in the contaminated waters.
As Watson states: “The audience are a mass to be swayed; to agree or disagree with. This is the heart of democratic theatre.” This fine piece of socially conscious, adapted theatre deserves to be experienced and I urge audiences to support our local, independent creatives who take risks both with artistic innovations and the extremely unforgiving business of mounting professional productions.
