First Stage’s Satisfying Production of Henry Miller/Henrik Ibsen Classic

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Photo by Paul Ruffolo

First Stage - An Enemy of the People

William Kastner (left) and John Eash-Scott in First Stage's ‘An Enemy of the People’

The intricate complexities of human survival tumble gracefully around onstage as First Stage presents Henry Miller’s An Enemy of the People. Directed by Joshua Pohja, the concerns of a small town are conjured to the stage with unflinching immediacy. John Eash-Scott delivers an intricate portrait of a doctor who discovers health concerns in a tiny health resort that could cause big problems for businesses in struggling community. Eash-Scott sculpts a complex emotional presence that mixes compassion with concern, anger and some darker impulses to craft a sophisticated portrayal at the heart of the play. William Kastner plays to an altogether different end of human compassion as the town’s Mayor, who twists public opinion against the doctor. 

Pohja has a sharp sense of the tension in Miller’s script, which is based on Henrik Ibsen’s 1882 drama En folkefiende. There is no escaping the pressure of the populace as the cast is surrounded on all sides by the prying eyes of the audience. The frustrating nature of power and control reaches into the darkest depth of social satire to produce something that feels remarkably fresh with a group of very young actors. Ibsen’s overall plot remains frustratingly true to contemporary politics as the people of the small town are quickly ensconced in business interests which threaten the public health. Scenic elements are kept to a minimum. Costuming is abstract and iconic. Everything visually present onstage gracefully lends a well-designed nucleus around which all of the drama rushes in all of its maddening inertia. Over 140 years after Ibsen debuted this dramatic madness, the cycle of problems at the heart of the political world persist. 

First Stage Young Company’s production of An Enemy of the People runs through April 28 at the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center, 325 W. Walnut St. For ticket reservations and more, visit firststage.org/events-tickets/2023-24-season/an-enemy-of-the-people,