An Enemy of the People

Blending Asian and European traditions in theatre is a defining approach of Tara Arts, currently on tour with Henrik Ibsen's An Enemy of the People. The action transfers remarkably smoothly from 19th-century Norway to India, with a well of holy water (a famous site of pilgrimage) replacing a Norwegian spa as the town's main source of visitor income. When Dr Somnath (played by Robert Mountford) discovers the water is polluted he expects gratitude, but ends up instead battling the local powers that be – the mayor, landowners and newspaper editor. Does majority rule make sense if the majority is wrong? How to measure public opinion? These questions dominate as Dr Somnath struggles to resist censorship and expose corruption. It makes for somewhat abstract dialogue, which can be hard to read with feeling, but the cast, mostly, manage admirably, raising sardonic laughs and teasing out contemporary relevance for Ibsen's play a century after the dramatist's death. [Alasdair Gillon]