Ephraim-An Enemy of the People, by Henrik Ibsen, was written in 1882. Why would a show that is 143 years old be selected as the final show of a college theatre arts season? Being a fan of Utah College Theatre, Snow College in particular, and Ibsen, I made the trek down to Ephraim to find out. Directed by Josh Patterson, the story follows a small town and a public health crisis that is uncovered by Dr. Thomas Stockmann, played by Henry Everett. Held in the blackbox theatre on campus, I was intrigued to see what would happen in this space, and how this story would be interpreted for 2025.
Because Ibsen’s play is part of the public domain, it gives the cast and creative team free reign to have interesting and innovative interpretations. While I have seen this story told several times, the direction by Patterson was unlike anything I have ever seen or could even imagine. I consider An Enemy of the People to be quite a serious play with extremely serious subject matter, and Patterson and his team turned it into somewhat of a farce, and yet with this farce, the underlying message seemed to stand out with more force. Adding humor and levity gave the production a chance to both lighten the mood and yet highlight the difficulties of the main moral at the same time.
There was a directoral element that took me a little while to grasp, but I began to really enjoy, which was the unique way of double-casting several characters. Unlike most double-casting situations, when one person plays the role in one performance, and the other plays it another performance, these players changed mid-show, and sometimes even mid-scene. There were different ways even within the production that this was handled. With the character of Billings, played by Hayley Greco and Chloe Hannah, they stayed on stage together the entire time and interacted with one another as almost a morphed character. With the character of Writ, played by Emma Rose and Sidney Rayne, the two made a physical change often mid-scene, where they would change their main costume piece to help the audience know who is now taking on the mantle. With the character of Anderson, played by Ky Habel and Mac Anderton, the players were different genders, and rather than switching a costume piece, they switched a prop, a pocket watch, and their characterization was quite different in the role. I will note that this took a bit of getting used to, but the concept grew on me. I liked both the idea of giving more students a chance to learn with their roles, and also seeing how each of the characters stories could be told in a slightly different way, yet still maintain the seamless story building of a show.
The set design by Ky Habel and the Costume Design by Landon Bulloch matched the traditional 1880’s setting, so when the acting was a little more humorous and over the top than expected, the choices in set and costuming were noted even further. I really appreciated the cane carried by Mayor Peter Stockman, played by Cody Smith, that had a bit of a nod to the spring issue that the plot is centered around. The subtlety of that choice was one of many little ways that this show surprised throughout. Everett as Dr. Stockman was not double cast, and he spent most of the show highly animated in his approach, much more than any other Stockman portrayal I had seen. As he continued to be so boisterous in his adamant truth, I thought more of director Patterson’s note in the playbill. He shared a point that Ibsen claimed to have only taken one piece of advice about playwrighting, which is in a good play, everyone is right. Watching the players grow more frustrated and slightly absurd in their quest to be seen as right, it helped me reflect on how this play has stayed relevant for 140 years. It is compelling to see it interpreted in a way that makes caricatures of the main players, seeing them become more animated and frustrated about their own perceived understandings and virtues, while ignoring what others may feel or believe. While I can’t say I have ever laughed at a production of Enemy of the People before, I also have not reflected more about how stupid we all seem when we fight about how right we are in our opinions of the latest political scandal, without truly trying to understand where the other person is coming from. I found this a profound and interesting way for Snow College to end their season.
An Enemy of the People plays Wednesdays-Saturdays at 7:30pm through April 24th at the Haslam Blackbox Theatre in the Eccles Performing Arts Center on Snow College Campus. 150 College Ave, Ephraim, Utah 84627. Tickets are $8-10. For more information see https://snow.edu/academics/fineart/theatre/upcoming.html
