What is truth without power?
Matt Smith stars in the critically acclaimed An Enemy of the People, Thomas Ostermeier’s bold reimagining of the classic play by Henrik Ibsen.
Doubt spreads faster than disease in Ibsen’s thought-provoking play about truth in a society driven by power and money.
When Dr. Stockmann makes an unbelievable discovery about the healing waters in his local baths, he holds the future of the town in his hands, but those with everything to lose refuse to accept his word. As the battle goes beyond contaminated water, barriers are broken in this contemporary production as Ostermeier shows us why this perennial class will be relevant forever.
Making his West End debut, celebrated director Thomas Ostermeier‘s iconoclastic production of An Enemy of the People plays at the Duke of York’s Theatre for a strictly limited run from 6 February 2024.
Smith rails against the narcissism and atomisation of society engendered by an always-online culture, and against social and economic inequality and hashtag politics – all sound stuff, but all bleeding obvious; the semi-articulated enthusiasm of the audience is equally predictable. None of it feels the slightest bit dangerous or provocative, any more than the onstage rehearsals of Thomas’ band, with their on-the-nose cover of Bowie’s Changes.
The whole thing has a contemporaneity that makes it feel urgent, a tribute both to Ibsen’s prescience and to Ostermeier’s rigorous analysis of its relevance. If the ending is depressing, that is because it sums up so precisely the state of things.
1895 | Broadway |
Broadway |
1923 | Broadway |
Broadway |
1924 | Broadway |
Broadway |
1924 | Broadway |
Broadway |
1927 | Broadway |
Broadway |
1928 | Broadway |
Broadway |
1937 | Broadway |
Broadway |
1950 | Broadway |
Broadway |
1971 | Broadway |
Broadway |
2017 | Off-Broadway |
The Barrow Group World Premiere Off-Broadway |
2024 | West End |
West End |
2024 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Production Broadway |
West End |
West End |
Videos