About performance

“Enemy of the people. That is both a concern and, as well as upset the joy of acting. Klata doesn’t present swift solutions; he doesn’t accuse or offer any diagnosis. He portrays a state in which we all are stuck – without exception. A state from which there is no escape. We must rebel – that is our alternative regardless the cost and consequences. The world might not be the prettiest of places, yet it is still worth fighting for. (Teatralny.pl, Newsweek)

Ibsen wrote An Enemy of the People in 1882, yet the mechanisms that he describes remain unchanged. Uncovering a report about contamination of water in a spa may affect numbers of visitors, even discourage them from coming, exposing the town to the potential unemployment. The remedies proposed by Dr. Stockman would take two years and cost the town exorbitant amounts of money. Thus, fearing its future, the town puts the mayor and money on one side, and health on the opposite. And of that of truth. That who desires the truth becomes an enemy of the people. The piece written by Henrik Ibsen a century ago has become far more current today: the quest for sensationalism, for truth in the name of public good, a liaison between the government and media, the disastrous state of ecology. We live in an era of struggle for the truth. It is only the characters that have changed. In the end, Doctor Stockmann and his family become outcasts and fugitives, defenceless and abandoned. The symbolic flood spills all over the world that is caught in chaos, hatred, deceit and demagoguery. As Major Stockmann puts it in the play, people fear most at ease with the good old ideas which they are familiar with. And no other change is expected.

The production emerged, directed by Jan Klata, as a fascinating acting performance, as well as musical duel between Juliusz Chrząstowski and Radosław Krzyżowski. Pop culture and ideas meet in captivating scenography. The production featured at international festivals to the acclaim of audiences and reviews.

Running time 2 hours 10 minutes, no interval.

With English and Slovak subtitles.

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