The OCU School of Theatre presented “An Enemy of the People” by Henrik Ibsen from March 24-27 as part of their Stage II season.
The play centers around Doctor Thomas Stockmann and his inspection of public baths where it was found that the water was contaminated. Since his town depends on the water, he attempts to get the baths shut down for repairs. He is then persecuted by the law, and his town declares him an enemy of the people.
The show’s director, Hal Kohlman, spoke of the show:
Q: Did you choose the show? What made you choose it specifically?
A: I chose the show a year ago in the midst of the COVID crisis. I was concerned about the way COVID – a public health crisis – was being politicized and used to polarize our society. “Enemy of the People,” written in 1882 in Norway has a lot to say about this situation. In addition, there are many other social and political concerns in the play which resonate with our present social concerns. I set about adapting the play from several available translations to make the language a bit more accessible and to open up casting to reflect a more contemporary demographic.
Q: What do you love about the show?
A: This is a play about ideas but there are also incredible opportunities for actors. The depth of passion as characters follow their beliefs and fight to uphold “truth” resonates with my theatrical brain.
Q: How are you using the intimate space and minimal technical elements to enhance performance?
A: The smaller theatre allows a more relaxed acting style – people don’t have to shout at each other in order to convey intensity. A wealth of character information can be conveyed in a simple glance or raised eyebrow rather than a full body gesture.
Q: What does the cast look like?
A: It is a relatively large cast with freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors – I am very proud of the work they have brought to this production. I guess one notable element of the casting is that the lead role, Dr. Stockmann and the antagonistic mayor are both cast with women rather than the men Ibsen stipulated.
I always looked at these characters in terms of their function – doctor/mayor rather than their gender and was pleased to have actors available that could carry the demands of the script.
Q: Do you have a moment or line that stands out or is your favorite?
A: Act 4, the first of the acts after intermission is particularly interesting and one of the first places I started when conceptualizing the look of the play.
Q: What challenges did you face in the rehearsal process?
A: For some of the actors, the line load is incredible. They have all lived up to the challenge. Also – we had Spring break interrupt the rehearsal process- rehearsed four weeks – went away for ten days, then came back and went right into tech.
Q: What do you hope audiences take from the show?
A: This is a plate of ideas, and there are a lot of ideas presented – I would hope it would spark some debate about the nature of our society and the direction we want to take it.
Q: What was the creative process like?
A: This show was not really rehearsed from the top down – I did not make a lot of choices for actors – I was open to what they discovered and brought to rehearsal. The overall concept – props, blocking, set design, of course were my responsibility and I know I communicated a lot of my inspiration from events of the past two years which may have led to particular choices among the actors, but I would say it was a very open process.
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