Deceit and hypocrisy among public officials have been around as long as politics, and in “An Enemy of the People,” which is being given an earnest and thoughtful revival by the Phoenix Theater Company, Ibsen takes the soapbox to accuse all of society of complicity. The enemy of the title is Dr. Thomas Stockmann, who discovers that his town’s famed baths are being fed by polluted waters and pose a health risk. At first Dr. Stockmann is hailed as a hero of the people, until the town’s mayor, Peter Stockmann, who is the good doctor’s brother, explains what closing the spa will mean to the local economy. Dr. Stockmann is then threatened with ruin unless he renounces his findings. “An Enemy of the People” is a Social drama with a capital S. It belongs to Ibsen’s so-called modern phase, a well-made and angry play that is basically a long diatribe against just about everyone in sight, from the government to the press to the citizenry at large. Dr. Stockmann rails not only against the liars in office but also the stupid voters who elected them. “The masses, the crowd, the ‘solid majority,’ ” he fumes, “is poisoning our sources of spiritual life and defiling the earth under our feet.” Betrayal of public trust is a popular theme on New York stages in this election year (a revival of Arthur Miller’s “All My Sons” will open soon on Broadway), but Ibsen’s unmitigated rant ultimately sheds more heat than light on the topic. In the Phoenix production the director Amy Wagner tries to counter the high-flown language by sheer decibel level. As Dr. Stockmann, John Lenartz gives a kinetic performance, like a marionette jumping around the stage, pulled by unseen forces. His opening confrontation with the mayor, ably played by Joseph J. Menino, is taut and tense. The strident energy Mr. Lenartz brings to that scene, however, never lets up, and two and a half hours of relentless fury, even if convincing, finally becomes monotonous and exhausting. Other performances in the cast of 11 are mixed. Laura Piquado delivers a credible reading as Mrs. Stockmann. Michael Surabian, Brian A. Costello and Angus Hepburn all provide nice turns in smaller roles. The production also benefits from very handsome period costumes by Suzanne Chesney and an imaginative set by Maruti Evans. A special bonus are two brief solos by Dmitri Friedenberg, a promising young cellist who plays Stockmann’s son Eilif. “An Enemy of the People” continues through Sept. 20 at the Connelly Theater, 220 East Fourth Street, East Village; (212) 352-3101, phoenixtheatreensemble.org.
|
|||||||
