JUSTJONES& The Albany present the world premiere and national tour of an award-winning new adaptation of AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE, adapted and directed from Henrik Ibsen by Rebecca Manson Jones and designed by Jens Demant Cole. The cast features Sarah Malin and Rupert Holliday Evans, with Elizabeth Elvin, Samuel Lawrence, Yana Penrose, our very own MATT RAY BROWN, and Lawrence Stubbings.
The national tour will run 25 September - 16 November 2013.
Sarah Malin and Rupert Holliday Evans lead the cast of this interactive adaptation of An Enemy of the People created by innovative director Rebecca Manson Jones, where the audience will choose the ending. Ibsen’s classic, famed for its final meeting scene of community debate and discord, “the Majority is always wrong”, will be reinterpreted with a female Dr Stockmann (played by Malin).
This contemporary adaptation is the first UK winner of the Ibsen Scholarship, awarded by the Norwegian Ministry of Culture . It is set in Cornwall in the heart of a close-knit community and explores a very modern problem. Dr Stockmann and her brother, the Mayor, have founded a Co-Operative Health Spa and their town¹s fortunes are transformed. So when she discovers that the health of the planet is threatened by one of their business deals, she assumes everyone will want to put things right. It’s a no-brainer, right? Wrong.
Climate change is not a local problem, it’s a world problem. But the debate about something that is happening on a global level gets deeply personal as sister and brother discover that they are bound by blood and divided by philosophy. At the public meeting, where the cast are joined by a chorus of local people, whose voices will be heard? Who is right?
In a truly bespoke and intimate retelling, part of the script has been created in workshops with the involvement of the communities where it will be touring. Local actors will form the chorus at their local venue, and audiences will vote on the ethical and practical options. Jens Demant Coles’ production design will also respond to the atmosphere and setting of each unique venue.
Director Rebecca Manson Jones and designer Jens Demant Cole founded JustJones& in 2010, and have collaborated extensively since 1993. Rebecca was the founder and director of Almeida Projects and her credits also include the critically acclaimed production of Ibsen¹s A Doll’s House at Exeter Northcott.
Sarah Malin’s theatre credits include RSC, National Theatre, Hampstead and Almeida. She has recently finished filming What Remains for the BBC. Rupert Holliday Evans theatre includes Manson Jones’ A Doll’s House, and work at the National, RSC & Tricycle. He has recently finished filming Dracula for NBC.
– Simon & How Talent Agency, London, UK..
