Artwork for the play / image courtesy of Theater J

Famed Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen first wrote “An Enemy of the People” for production in 1883. The Theater J piece was adapted by Amy Herzog.

The story centers around an eccentric and spirited scientist, Thomas Stockmann (Joey Collins.) In the adaptation, after grieving his late wife, he moves his family back to his hometown in the hopes of opening a spa treatment center that might’ve benefited his spouse. But after some questionable building decisions lead him to test the water and confirm possibly deadly bacterial contamination.

Although originally excited to expose the town leadership’s failures, Stockmann’s so-called allies are ultimately cowed by the mayor/ executive at the spa—and his own brother, Peter (Edward Gero.) The mayor visits them at local paper, The People’s Messager, and promises that fixing the problem would mean higher taxes and reduced subscriptions. This doesn’t sit well with moderate publisher/homeowners voting bloc leader Aslaksen (Dylan Arredondo) or fiery but cash-strapped editor Hovstad (Aaron Blinden.) In a stunning about face, they turn on Thomas, and in a town hall meeting brand him “an enemy of the people.”

Theater J Artistic Director Hayley Finn draws attention in the playbill to the Jewish nature of play adaptors like Arthur Miller in 1950 and now Amy Herzog. Drew Litchenberg, in his playbill essay “Shouting Down the Truth,” points to reimagining the Stockmanns as Jewish. “As Thomas puts it humorously, ‘descended from Polish pirates on my mother’s side,” Litchenberg writes. “Reimagining Ibsen’s play as one about Jews navigating an intolerant society, Herzog and [Theater J director Janos] Szaz raise difficult questions about modern diasporic identity.”

But if anything, the Jewish additions to this play are subtle, unlike the original moral messaging. Szaz imagines the action taking place amidst more modern flair, including projecting pictures of climate disaster and other contemporary realities onto the linoleum walls of the set (made to resemble a bath/spa set up). During the town hall scene, People’s Messenger sub-editor Billing (Jeremy Allen Crawford) roams in and out of the theater with a camera phone mounted to a selfie stick; we see that video stream in real time, too. Disparaging “tweets” also appear, indicating that the fear-mongering and smear campaign against Thomas are working.

But that part is a little jarring to me as well. Maybe it’s because we, the audience-turned-actors playing town hall participants, are actively on Thomas’s side. Breaking that fourth wall kind of breaks the idea that everyone falls for this propaganda. (Though, fun fact: a performance in 2024 of the Broadway revival was interrupted by climate change activists! They had great timing—during this town hall scene—where Jeremy Strong and Michael Imperioli didn’t have to break character in order to push them out. :P)

I also, to be nitpicky, didn’t like the very end of the production. Szasz often has Thomas running in place to transition scenes (he even runs on a mini treadmill throughout the ten-minute intermission.) Clothed continuously in a track suit, I thought this depicted the character’s determination and kinetic personality. But at the very end, the other characters—most of who worked against Thomas—join him in running in place and chanting about speaking truth to power. It’s another fourth wall moment, but I don’t think we needed it for the message to come across.

Granted, resistance to whistle blowers continues into the modern day and within the United States, too. Litchenberg points out that at least one sitting congressman named Anthony Fauci, whose “crime” was trying to protect us from COVID-19, an “enemy of the people.” “The phrase, extant since the Roman Empire, is still popular with authoritarian rulers.”

Perhaps the more interesting conundrum is what it takes for a righteous character like Thomas to lapse into cynicism and self-pity. After massive bullying and little hope of disseminating his toxicity report, Thomas starts ranting about how the people “deserve” to die. He is further compounded by what the populace elects to do to his children—Petra (Reese Cowley) loses her job and Eilif (Jakob Szasz) gets beat up at school.

Unlike Miller, “Herzog retains [the speech,] transforming it into an extended debate over purebred poodles and stray dogs,” Litchenberg writes. “Ibsen disavowed eugenicist theories, but the master dramatist was prophetic in identifying the immoral uses of science.” This, too, feels very foreboding on a Jewish level, given the beliefs and practices of the Third Reich during the Holocaust.

Rounding out the cast is Morten Kill (Stephen Patrick Martin,) Thomas’s father-in-law who is on his side until Thomas points out the other man’s tannery practices are part of the pollution infrastructure. Finally, Captain Horster (Nicholas Yenson) who, as a wanderer stands apart from society and is the only person besides his children to remain loyal to Thomas.

For a final, feminist argument, Thomas and Captain Horster are the only two men in this adaptation who (mostly) treat Petra like a person. At one point the captain attempts to talk to her and Billings (a suitor who often whips a golf club about) steps in menacingly. “Nice guy” editor Hovstad puts the moves on her during a job interview. Even Uncle Peter blames Thomas for Petra not leaving home and getting married already. Beyond political repression, women’s roles are also very circumscribed in this society.

…including in Petra’s situation with her father. In her professional career she’s a teacher who often gripes about largely unexplored censorship in the classroom. At home, she’s primarily performing the domestic and emotional stability duties for the family. Litchenberg calls her a “surrogate caretaker” who serves as “a realistic foil to [Thomas’s] moments of heightened emotion.” She essentially makes the political personal, because in mediating between her father and uncle, she brings the arguments home.

There’s a lot to sink your teeth into with this production, and very little time in which to do it! “An Enemy of the People” will be running until November 23. Two additional “Creative Connections” addendums remain; the November 19 matinee will be followed by a cast talkback. Then the November 23 matinee will feature a discussion about environmental and health scientists working in tandem with lawmakers. And the rest of the 2025-2026 Theater J season will follow!

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