Ibsen's Enemy of the People... Anybody excited?

[AlfieByrne]

Posted: 8/22/12 at 12:46pm

I was walking in the city and saw that the marquee is up. (Sorry, I didn't take any pics) Intense colors, but sort of a bland artwork. There seem to be almost no buzz for Lenkiewicz's new(ish) adaptation of Ibsen's work although previews start in less than two weeks. Anybody excited as I am to see Boyd Gaines/Richard Thomas in it?

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 8/22/12 at 12:50pm

Eh. Nothing about it screams "RUSH TO GO SEE IT" to me.

[Kad]

Posted: 8/22/12 at 12:52pm

I'm not particularly a fan of the play. It's... very heavy-handed.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 8/22/12 at 12:58pm

I'm more excited about asking Richard Thomss to sign my IT dvd than I am about the show, itself.

[bobs3]

Posted: 8/22/12 at 2:30pm

It's a difficult play to pull off, but with the right cast and director it could work.

[wonkit]

Posted: 8/22/12 at 2:52pm

I can't put "Ibsen" and "excited" in the same sentence.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 8/22/12 at 2:55pm

I'm with you wonkit.

Once I was in THE WILD DUCK,
most unexciting time of my life.

[AlfieByrne]

Posted: 8/22/12 at 4:19pm

If they are taking the same script as London's Arcola Theatre production, it's condensed down to 2 hrs and 20 minutes from the original lengthy 3 hours, and reviews were pretty stellar for that production, so I can only imagine how good Doug Hughes' production will be.

[newintown]

Posted: 8/22/12 at 4:24pm

Talk to me when Ted Danson does Rosmersholm.

[Playbilly]

Posted: 8/22/12 at 4:51pm

What are the "updates" ?

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 8/22/12 at 5:01pm

Personally, I love Ibsen and ENEMY is pretty timely with its emphasis on environmental concerns. This is not to argue with Kad: the play IS heavy-handed, but given the subject matter, how can it not be?

And THE WILD DUCK is a wonderful play. I'm sorry if CurtainPull was in a dull production.

I don't know if I'd be "excited" by Gaines/Thomas in ENEMY, but it could very well be a worthwhile evening.

Updated On: 8/22/12 at 05:01 PM

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 8/22/12 at 10:46pm

For the record, I have never seen a production of Enemy, so I'm going to take the cowardly position of waiting for the reviews/reactions. But I've read it several times and it's never jumped out of the pages as far as I'm concerned. Ibsen can be a trial to sit through (Liz Ullman in Ghosts) and a joy (Janet McTeer in A Doll's Life, and, somewhat, kate Burton in Hedda Gabler). But I'm not rushing to the box office unless I hear something fabulous about it.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 8/22/12 at 11:15pm

What the hell are they doing to poor Ibsen in New York? I've seen college productions of GHOSTS that were riveting!

The Ahmanson in LA did an ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE in the 90s starring John Glover. He and the production were excellent.

Kad is certainly right that it's hard to "argue for" poisoning the public baths, and the play is one-sided in that regard. But there are subtleties to the play in terms of its meditation on the supposed merits of "democracy" and the "collective wisdom" of the public. It's also an interesting dramatization of how we treat "truth tellers", something Al Gore and Dan Rather might have something to say about.