Summary[]
An Enemy of the People is an 1882 play by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. Ibsen wrote it in response to the public outcry against his play Ghosts, which at that time was considered scandalous. Ghosts had challenged the hypocrisy of Victorian morality and was deemed indecent for its veiled references to syphilis.
An Enemy of the People addresses the irrational tendencies of the masses, and the hypocritical and corrupt nature of the political system that they support. It is the story of one brave man's struggle to do the right thing and speak the truth in the face of extreme social intolerance. The play's protagonist, Dr Stockmann, represents the playwright's own voice. Upon completion of the play, Ibsen wrote to his publisher in Copenhagen : "I am still uncertain as to whether I should call it a comedy or a straight drama. It may [have] many traits of comedy, but it also is based on a serious idea."
Productions[]
Probably not a complete list
- An Enemy Of The People (BBC 1950)
- An Enemy Of The People (BBC 1957)
- An Enemy Of The People (BBC 1971)
- An Enemy Of The People (BBC 1975)
- An Enemy Of The People (BBC 1987)
- An Enemy Of The People (BBC 2008) A new version by Martin Lynch
- An Enemy Of The People (BBC 2010) A new version by Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti & John Foley
References[]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Enemy_of_the_People
http://www.suttonelms.org.uk/RADIO1.HTML
http://www.radiolistings.co.uk/programmes/enemy_of_the_people__an.html