'An Enemy of the People' review: Jeremy Strong leads a bold and necessary Broadway revival
NEW YORK – In his riveting new Broadway play, Jeremy Strong puts us all on trial.
The “Succession” actor is the incendiary heart of “An Enemy of the People,” Sam Gold’s urgent and electrifying revival of Henrik Ibsen’s 1882 drama, which opened Monday at the Circle in the Square Theatre and runs through June 16. Michael Imperioli (“The Sopranos”) and Victoria Pedretti (“The Haunting of Hill House”) co-star in the production, whose themes of truth and misinformation ring timelier than ever in Amy Herzog’s startling adaptation.
Set in Norway in the late 19th century, the play centers on Dr. Thomas Stockmann (Strong), a diligent and mild-mannered physician who helps oversee a health spa in a small resort town. One day, Thomas’ quiet life is upended when his research finds potentially fatal bacteria in the public baths, which draw flocks of tourists for their medicinal properties. He sounds the alarm among journalists and politicians, including his brother, Peter (Imperioli), the town’s blustering mayor. But to his surprise, if not our own, he’s met with indifference and scorn.
As Thomas comes to learn, decontaminating the hot springs would require a complete overhaul of the town’s water system, which would shutter the resort for years and effectively bankrupt taxpayers. The local newspaper, too, is reluctant to print Thomas’ findings, fearing retribution from disgruntled citizens.
So the question becomes: Does he stay silent about a public health risk and preserve the local economy? Or does he speak up, knowing that he may endanger his family while saving others?
Strong is astounding as Thomas, resisting easy histrionics even as tensions reach their boiling point. Soft-spoken and even-keeled, he imbues the character with a deep well of sadness, not only for his late wife Katherine, but for the willful ignorance that’s afflicted his community.
At one point, Thomas naively suggests to his daughter, Petra (Pedretti), that they move to America, where they “won’t have to worry” about being attacked for their staunchly progressive views. (“When you’re fighting for truth and justice, don’t wear your good pants,” he wryly reminds her.) The exchange received knowing laughs from the audience, and in lesser hands, could read as too on the nose. But beneath the bumper-sticker idealism, Strong’s finely tuned performance captures the simmering fear and exasperation of living in a world that values profits over people.
Gold’s audacious, immersive staging is equally potent. Performed in the round on a narrow, lamplit stage, the show lulls the audience into a sense of complacency before the rug is pulled out from under them. After the play’s first act, theatergoers are invited on stage to chat, snap photos and imbibe Nordic liquor; meanwhile, Oslo synth-pop band A-ha blares from the speakers. Some folks are selected to stay onstage as the play recommences, seated among the cast as Thomas makes his plea to a town hall. But when discourse fails and mob mentality takes hold, the audience is forced to stand idly by as Thomas is thrown to the wolves.
Imperioli is appropriately slimy as the coercive Peter, while Thomas Jay Ryan is sensational as the self-serving Aslaksen, a publisher and businessman who’s content to keep his head down. “If you’re accusing me of being a coward, just remember: I’ve been totally consistent,” he says.
As this haunting production warns us, there’s nothing more terrifying than that.