Proud Enemy of the People

We were a bit late to the party booking tickets to An Enemy of the People, so it was almost sold out on the cheaper seats  and we ended up standing.  We did a bit of horse trading so that we could stand together, but I quite like standing; there’s often a touch more camaraderie with the plebs standing at the back so as usual there were a few interesting chats to be had before and afterwards.

As for the play, I found the opening scenes a bit dry with loads of exposition and struggled to get into it a bit, and the earnestly hip gang on stage were also quite annoying. But by about half an hour in, I had bought into the narrative and was interested to see what happened next.  Centred around a water pollution scandal in a small town, it reminded me a bit of The Inquiry at Chichester last year.   This reworking of the Ibsen play makes us think about our own complicity in the situation we find ourselves in not just in a theoretical way, but bringing it to life with current ethical and political dilemmas.  With themes of  corporate corruption and our own culpability and morality, I enjoyed the exploration of the different approaches to achieving change, and also the way that absolutely everyone kids themselves somehow.  I just need to mention there was also a very sweet dog on stage quite a lot although I am not sure why apart from the cuteness.

The play really comes to life in the second half when the the auditorium is turned into the town hall, the lights are turned up, and we have an impassioned debate about what to do about the water pollution, when it turns out doing the right thing is going to cost absolutely everyone.  The debate begins with a powerful speech about the rotten core of society by Matt Smith’s Doctor Stockmann, who by now has become less of a truth-seeker and more of a zealot for his cause.  The floor is turned over to the audience for 15 minutes of a mini question time with Priyanga Burford as Aslaken and other cast members expertly fielding questions and comments whilst staying in character.  I was wondering if any of the audience were plants but although there were some real stingers, there were also some questions and comments that either missed the point, promoted conspiracy theories or were a bit rambling - just like real life. Even so there were good questions about evidence and trusting the experts, and how to prioritise resources. Looking at reviews it seems different things have come up on different nights so I was even more impressed with the improvisation staying in character.  The ending was short and to the point and made a perfect full stop to the play.  So, this play is actually 140 years old, and is still fiercely relevant and political, with this particular revival feeling very timely, and touching on current politics, from the water companies, the wealth of our prime minister to the post office scandal and much more.  It's also funny and gave me plenty of food for thought on the train home (even more fiddly than usual because of a points failure).

Earlier in the day we had been to see the Offstage exhibition at the Proud Gallery in John Adam street.  You have to knock to get in, but the guy at the desk took pity on us and opened the door anyway!  There were some fab photos of the Fab Four, and the Prodigy, but there were loads of other treasures there too, including a nice  selection of Madness over the decades from 1980.  Away from the main exhibition pieces, not everyone in photos were named which was quite frustrating and so we spent some time trying to identify whether we were actually looking at young Jimmy Page, Robert Plant or Roger Taylor.  A particular surprise was finding out about Brian May’s interest in 3D photography which meant we got some great Queen photos too as well as some 3D Victorian photos.  My favourites though were a great shot of David Bowie and another of Amy Winehouse.  Nice playlist going in the background too.