Theatre review: An Enemy of the People

Trigger Warning: This review contains references to an actor who doesn't really seem to understand what trigger warnings are for.

Paul Hilton has catapulted himself across the river and straight from one Ibsen play into another, as the corrupt mayor in Thomas Ostermeier, Florian Borchmeyer and Duncan Macmillan's adaptation of the overtly political An Enemy of the People. Matt Smith is the star turn in Ostermeier's production, playing Thomas Stockmann, the (medical) doctor who works at a spa known for its borderline miraculous water, and which is at the heart of a small town's economy. But an industrial complex that was built a few years earlier has been polluting the waters, and Thomas has just completed a study proving as much. He informs his brother Peter (Hilton,) the town's mayor, but doesn't get the enthusiastic spring into action he's rather naïvely expecting: Closing the springs to make repairs wouldn't make the shareholders too happy.

It would also cost millions, and thanks to a carefully-worded contract, while the damage was done for the benefit of the industrialists, any repair costs fall to the taxpayers.

So Thomas is left alone to announce the environmental disaster to the town, with the entire local establishment including former friends and allies dismissing his findings, or focusing on the economic disaster that fixing the problem would entail. Ostermeier’s take on the story was first seen in Germany in 2012, and you can see why now might be the time for him – with Macmillan providing the English language version and presumably some of the specific local references – to bring a story that begins with big business catastrophically polluting the water to the UK.

But whether it’s different theatrical styles between London and Berlin or the fact that 12 years is a long time for a production to stay fresh, there’s something very awkward about the first act that refuses to come to life. This isn’t the cast’s fault – Smith has a kind of blend of exhaustion and energy to his increasing frustration and rage, and everyone supporting him gets their moment to shine – but the production feels disconnected from itself, and therefore from the audience. It’s like Ostermeier is trying to bring different elements to the story – balancing the drier political elements with humour and music – but they’re all presented individually as if they come from different shows. Zachary Hart as Billing is funny, but his scenes are an abrupt tonal lurch, very much feeling like someone decided it was time for some light relief.

The musical interludes are just as abrupt, and while Thomas and his friends rehearsing their covers band is presumably meant to show them starting the show as clinging on to their youthful but vague ideals, there’s something about the group of friends led by a 41-year-old jamming Bowie’s “Changes” that makes it clear the show thinks it’s a bit cleverer, and a whole lot cooler, than it actually is. The first act ending, as the press and politicians prepare to bury the scandal, with the cast actually whitewashing the blackboard walls of Jan Pappelbaum’s set, is just painfully literal. Outside of this, the show’s biggest unintentional gag is everyone seemingly being terrified of Kiil’s (Nigel Lindsay) incredibly docile German Shepherd, a dog so laid-back it would fail an audition to play Crab in The Two Gentlemen of Verona for yawning too much.

The second act comes to the point, and Matt Smith being involved in a non piss-related coup de théâtre at the Duke of York’s, as the house lights go on for Thomas’ big speech, and microphones are given to the actual audience to give their responses (whether this is entirely real or involves plants, audience participation is a major source of anxiety for some people so might have been something you could include in oh, I don’t know, a trigger warning of some kind.) Priyanga Burford particularly comes to the fore here as the local newspaper publisher, her frustrating ability to deflect every question to something unrelated being all-too accurate to real-life politicians.

As I say, I got the feeling that the evening being anchored around this central scene, and the angry speech and ensuing Q&A that moves away from a fictional ecological disaster and focuses on the breadth of real-life inequality and injustice, is what has led to some of the other elements being disconnected, as if they were exposition and atmosphere being got out of the way before the real show started. It also may explain the plot strands that get abandoned: Jessica Brown Findlay as Thomas’ wife Katharina has the suggestion of an affair with Shubham Saraf’s Hovstad (possibly after bonding over both having played Ophelia,) but this is forgotten as thoroughly as the Stockmanns’ baby. A bit of a weird evening this one, with plenty of good elements but a bit too pleased with itself to get round to making them all hang together. Good dog though. Good dog.

An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen in a version by Thomas Ostermeier, Florian Borchmeyer and Duncan Macmillan is booking until the 13th of April at the Duke of York’s Theatre.

Running time: 2 hours 25 minutes including interval

 Photo credit: Manuel Harlan.