An Enemy of the People A New Version by Christopher Hampton

by Ibsen, Henrik; Hampton, Christopher

• ISBN13: 9780571194292
• ISBN10: 057119429X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-02-26
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Summary

'The strongest man in the world is he who stands most alone.' Dr Stockmann Dr Stockmann attempts to expose a water pollution scandal in his home town which is about to establish itself as a spa. When his brother conspires with local politicians and the newspaper to suppress the story, Stockmann appeals to a public meeting - only to be shouted down and reviled as 'an enemy of the people'. Ibsen's explosive play reveals his distrust of politicians and the blindly held beliefs of the masses. This is the script of Christopher Hampton's version of Ibsen's classic, first staged at the National in 1997.

Author Biography

Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen was born in 1828. His plays include Peer Gynt (1867), A Doll's House (1879), Ghosts (1881), An Enemy of the People (1882), Hedda Gabler (1890), and The Master Builder (1892). He died in 1906.

Christopher Hampton was born in the Azores in 1946. He wrote his first play, When Did You Last See My Mother?, at the age of eighteen. His many works for the theatre, television and cinema include The Philanthropist, translations of Yasmina Reza's Art, Life x 3, and The Unexpected Man, his adaptation of Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Laclos, translations from Ibsen and MoliFre, and the screenplays Dangerous Liaisons, Carrington, and The Secret Agent.

Table of Contents

"An unequivocal triumph." --Times Literary Supplement (London)

"Christopher Hampton's new version of the text is also a revelation . . . An Enemy of the People has been reborn as a passionate current debate about the value of the individual . . . The dust has been blown off the original text, and it will not settle for a long time . . . There is a vitality, vehemence and victory here against the odds." --Spectator (London)

"More than any revival of Ibsen's plays I've seen, it creates a sense of place vital to the theme . . . An Enemy of the People is little short of superb, for it gives us both a big, rich, public play and the private drama of two men locked in rivalry that probably goes back to the playpen . . . You want an unforgettable picture of the idealist at his most necessary yet impossible? Here it is." --The Times (London)