SET IN SOMEWHERE, USA: (L-R) Vic May, Errol McLendon, and Lona Livingston appear in Henrik Ibsenâ's Enemy of the People. The play finds a new home in Chicago with adapters setting the piece in middle America. (James Palmer)
A fairly young and spirited troupe, Red Tape Theatre, has freely adapted Henrik Ibsen's "Enemy of the People." We are no longer in late 19th century Norway. The opening scene could be in any town USA on any Sunday afternoon. This town, named Cherokee, has come back from the "dead" thanks to a spa, which has brought businesses back to the community.
The mayor of the town, Peter (a strong performance by Robert A. Lynch), won his election because of his support for the spa. His sister, Dr. Tammy Stockman (note the respected doctor is now a woman), a specialist in environmental studies (powerfully played by Courtney Bennett), has come back to raise her daughter in her hometown, but finds that there is something very strange about the water.
When Tammy's hunches prove true, the community, the mayor, and other officials react in various unsettling ways. What can the town do to survive? If the spa closes, the town will die; if the officials do nothing to clean up the problem, the people will suffer! Each character explores this no-win situation.
Robert L. Oakes' adaptation is a strong script, but might have benefited from shaving 20 minutes. Director James Palmer has added some clever touches and surprises, which bring the audience closer to onstage events and those in the news.
The cast of actors are strong and bring realism to the roles they play. We feel that they are people like us. Tammy's husband Cliff (Vic May), her Uncle Dan (Errol McLendon), her grandmother-in-law (Lona Livingston), her cousin Patrick (Kieran Kredell), and her old friend and owner of the local newspaper, Greg (Nicholas Combs), each do a solid job in making this story come alive and seem very real.
The set by James Ogden is an amazing work for this small theater (an old gym in the school portion of St. Peter's Episcopal Church). Kyle Land deftly handles the tech and lighting with the limited equipment.
One leaves the play realizing the basic issues that Ibsen dealt with more than a hundred years ago are still with us. The Crestwood case testifies to that.
Enemy of the People
Red Tape Theatre
St. Peter’s Episcopal Church
621 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago
Tickets: 800-838-3006 or www.redtapetheatre.org
Running Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Closes: May 30
Alan Bresloff writes theater reviews in and around Chicago.
