Stage Door News
Stage Door News
TORONTO (August 25, 2014) - Tarragon Theatre launches its 2014-15 season with an English-language rendition of Florian Borchmeyer's and Thomas Ostermeier's celebrated adaptation and production of An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen. In what promises to be one of the most exciting events of the theatre season in Toronto, this contemporary mirror for our times previews from September 16, opens September 24 and runs to October 26 in Tarragon's Mainspace.
Richard Rose, Tarragon's Artistic Director, explains: "I attended Florian Borchmeyer's adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's An Enemy of the People in a production by Thomas Ostermeier at the Schaubühne Theatre, Berlin in May 2013. Their contemporary take - both in adaptation and production - spoke clearly, directly and with complexity to the current Canadian struggle of environment versus economy. With the support of Florian Borchmeyer and Thomas Ostermeier, I am honoured that we will be able to stage a version of their compelling production."
Written in 1882, Ibsen's parable echoes the questions of today as it grapples with how we balance our conscience and our comfort - censored scientists, environmental crises, anarchist manifestos and the pitfalls of majority rule. As Rose recalls: "Tar sands, climate change, fracking, pipelines, Walkerton, the cod and salmon fisheries, tailing ponds and ethical oil; all came to mind as I experienced this production. I knew instantly that we had to produce it."
Tarragon's international playwright-in-residence, Maria Milisavljevic, translates Florian Borchmeyer's adaptation which sets the classic but timely drama in a 21st-century spa town.
The Chief Medical Officer of a small Norwegian town, Dr. Thomas Stockmann, has made a shocking discovery, but to go public with his test results will spell the end of his town's prosperity. The people don't know that the newly-built Baths are contaminated with industrial waste, and if the world finds out, it will send the community into economic collapse. What is in the public interest when what is good for the economy comes into conflict with what is good for the environment? Is democracy the form of government best suited to address environmental problems?
Rose has pulled together an exceptionally talented ensemble for this thrilling work. Award-winning film, television and stage actor Joe Cobden (Tarragon's Little One, Soulpepper's Twelve Angry Men) portrays Dr. Stockmann; Rick Roberts (2014 ACTRA Toronto Award for title role in CBC-TV movie Jack about Jack Layton; Tarragon's The Small Room at the Top of the Stairs, Molière, John and Beatrice) plays his brother and town councillor who is also Chairman of the Baths' board of directors. Tom Barnett (Tarragon's Courageous, How It Works; Theatre Passe Muraille / Mirvish national tour of The Drawer Boy), Matthew Edison (Tarragon's The Real World?, Forests; Canadian Stage's Amadeus, Proof) and Brandon McGibbon (Tarragon's Forests, The Misanthrope; Broadway's ONCE) portray the publisher, editor and reporter of the local newspaper. Richard McMillan (11 seasons at Stratford Festival; Tarragon's After Akhmatova, Molière; four Dora Awards) is Stockmann's father-in-law, and Tamara Podemski (first Canadian actress and first Native American to win Special Jury Prize for Acting at Sundance Film Festival, original Canadian cast of RENT then RENT on Broadway, Bruce McDonald's film Dance Me Outside) plays Stockmann's wife.
Set and costume design is by Michelle Tracey, lighting design by Jason Hand, sound design by Thomas Ryder Payne. The stage manager is Marinda de Beer.
Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) was a Norwegian playwright who authored some of modern theatre's most celebrated plays: Brand (1865), A Doll's House (1868), Peer Gynt (1876), Ghosts (1881), An Enemy of the People (1882), Rosmersholm (1886), Hedda Gabler (1890) and The Master Builder (1892). Ibsen is widely considered to be one of the most important playwrights of the modern era.
Richard Rose is the Artistic Director of Tarragon Theatre. Prior to joining Tarragon in 2002, Rose was Founding Artistic Director at Necessary Angel (a position he held from 1978-2002), Associate Director for Canadian Stage Company, Director of the Stratford Festival Young Company and spent ten seasons directing at the Stratford Festival. He has directed plays across Canada, the United States, and in London's West End in styles ranging from the environmental to the classical. Rose is well known for developing new work, including four plays that won the Governor General's Award and nine other nominated plays. He is a four-time Dora Award winner for direction and production and has had numerous nominations. He has also been honoured with a Doctorate of Sacred Letters (jure dignitatus) from Thorneloe University (Sudbury, his home town), the Canada Council Walter Carsen Award for Excellence in the Arts and the City of Toronto's Barbara Hamilton Award for the same.
Tarragon Theatre presents
An Enemy of the People
By Henrik Ibsen
Adapted by Florian Borchmeyer
Translated by Maria Milisavljevic
Directed by Richard Rose
Starring Tom Barnett, Joe Cobden, Matthew Edison, Brandon McGibbon,
Richard McMillan, Tamara Podemski, Rick Roberts
Set and Costume Design by Michelle Tracey
Lighting Design by Jason Hand
Sound Design by Thomas Ryder Payne
Opens September 24 and runs to October 26, 2014 (previews from September 16)
Tarragon Theatre's Mainspace, 30 Bridgman Avenue, Toronto, M5R 1X3
Tuesday-Saturday at 8pm; Sunday at 2:30pm and select Saturdays at 2:30pm: Sept. 27, Oct. 4, Oct. 11.
Regular Tickets: $27-$53 (Previews: $21-$25)
Cheap Seats: For every performance beginning September 25, 10% of the house is available for specially-priced $15 tickets at the door, starting at 6pm for evening performances and 1pm for matinees.
Tickets can be purchased through Patron Services at 416.531.1827 or by visiting www.tarragontheatre.com
2014-08-25
Toronto: Tarragon Theatre launches its new season with Ibsen's "An Enemy of the People" September 24