Title (2) File type Publiseringsdato Download
Program for The National Theatre's production An Enemy of the People (2014) pdf September 7, 2014 Download
Sesongprogram for Nationaltheatret høst 2014. pdf August 2014 Download

An Enemy of The People

Musikklab Volum To (Music Lab Volume Two)

An Enemy of The People is a musical theatre production by The National Theatre/The Torshov Theatre, produced in 2014, and based on the play by Henrik Ibsen.

Petter Næss directed it in the style of a silent movie.

Bernhard Arnø acted in the role of Tomas Stockmann.

Simon Revholt had composed music for the production, and led the musicians.

The musical version of An Enemy of The People is the second production in The Torshov Theatre's musical theatre laboratory project called Musikklab (literally: Music Lab) in which the artists examine the theatre in the music and the music in the theatre.

Information

(Objekt ID 40897)
Object type Production
Premiere September 7, 2014
Produced by The National Theatre, The Torshov Theatre
Based on An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen
Audience Adults
Language Norwegian
Keywords Musical theatre, Drama, Theatre
Running period September 7, 2014  
More

At the webpage of The National Theatre the following, among other things, is written about the musical version of An Enemy of The People:

"One man stands against the rest of society. What happens if this man is struck dumb? This is what Musikklab wants to investigate. They transform the idealist Doctor Stockmann into a struggling hero from the days of silent films.

Musikklab is the project of the group that is currently in residence in the actor-run stage at Torshov. They want to investigate how much one can really say - when a piano is the only sound.

All the peculiarities of silent films are tested carefully by director Petter Næss. On a black-and-white stage, live music, action and emotion are emphasized. The two brothers, Thomas and Peter Stockmann, are fighting for their own version of the truth - with nothing but gestures and facial expressions, and the occasional text poster. Their struggle for the people's favour is also a fight about music. The music drives the action and the mood forward, but it also silences the truth.

An Enemy of the People at Torshov is a display of the art of acting - and reveals the humorous aspect of the play, something that was important to Ibsen himself. But the human ability to turn our coats is not only hilarious. How do we relate to the whistle-blower? the Torshov group asks. Is he only a hero when the truth is not too costly? In this way, Musikklab touches on the political issues of our contemporary society."

An Enemy of The People is one of The National Theatre's own productions performed during The Ibsen Festival 2014.

SOURCES:

The National Library of Norway, performance program digitised by The National Library of Norway, transferred to Sceneweb 13.08.2015

The National Theatre, program for The Ibsen Festival 2014, http://www.nationaltheatret.no/Her+er+programmet!.b7C_wRnG5W.ips

The National Theatre on An Enemy of The People, http://www.nationaltheatret.no/?module=Articles&action=Article.publicOpen&id=5109

Performance dates
September 7, 2014Torshovteatret - Hovedsalen Opening night
Festivals (1)
The Ibsen Festival September 7, 2014
Press coverage

Lillian Bikset, Lekent laboratorium (literally: Playful laboratory), Dagbladet, 07.09.2014:

"The music lab's outspoken aim is to conduct scientific research on music within the theatre and theatre within music, but An Enemy of the People is a scientific research project in far more than sound. Visually, theatrically and musically the performance is characterised by confidence in its own consciousness of form."