An Enemy of the People - Duke of York's Theatre

Apologies,  for some reason I can't get the spoiler button, to work. I'll try again. 

Oh dear, my spoiler disappeared. I'm sure by the time I figure out what's going on with my technical issues, somebody who has seen it will provide the spoiler for the town hall scene. I liked what they did, high point of the evening for me.

Ostermeier was on Radio 4 with Matt Smith this morning, and commented that ticket prices were 5 times as much here as they had been in Germany. The producers can’t have been too delighted with him for that. The only thing I remember about it is the town hall scene, which went on for ages and was certainly remarkable.

Saw this last night.

It’s a confusing piece (or at least was for me!) - parts of it really work - Stockmann’s speech, the dynamics between Smith and Paul Hilton for example, but there are bits of it that REALLY didn’t work for me - the town hall scene goes on for too long, and, in my opinion, doesn’t add anything to the show for a start.

It’s a shame, as I wanted to love this, but it just left me cold. I’d say it’s a 2 star production, pushed up to 3 by some really great performances, particularly from Smith and Hilton.

I want to know:

I’m shuddering; it sounds like BBC Question Time. 

I have a feeling the town hall scene

Saw this tonight, enjoyed a lot of it, especially everything Paul Hilton related.

Some spoilers follow. . .

The set in the first half is some kind of Brechtian thing, hard lit despite no visible skylight, with all sorts of revolutionary graffiti on the walls, the least appealing of which was an exhortation to kill the Buddha (too chill I suppose).

The blocking also doesn't lend itself to a believable intimacy among the characters some of the time. I recall how lovely the intimacy was in Jessica Brown Findlay's Hamlet, where she played Ophelia opposite Andrew Scott, and the two of them together just won my heart. Could have used a bit more believable humanity, a bit less Brecht, as I feel you've got to really buy the humanity before it gets threatened by the plot, even if you suddenly go Brechtian later (which it does, very effectively).

On that human note, I really loved Vilberg Andri Palsson, standing in for the indisposed Zachary Hart as Billing, a character I haven't really paid attention to in the past: his earphones-on, gentle, vacant, morally-malleable long-hair was spot on recognisable from every student common room everywhere lol.

I like music, and the live music did serve to humanise the characters somewhat, even as it slowed down the plot. I wished Matt Smith would sing his "American Psycho" numbers instead though, but that's just me (I loved that production so much lol!)

This production has an embarrassment of good acting talent, so Nigel Lindsay as a capitalist ghoul and Priyanka Burford as a compromised liberal are good fun.

But it's Paul Hilton's antagonist, Peter Stockmann, who really stood out for me: the weaselly gelatinous jibbering of a Jacob Rees Mogg contained beneath a steely, aggressive Dominic Raab surface. Hilton makes every scene he's in come alive, regardless of the staging.

Matt Smith rules in the second half, especially when he gets Hulk angry. Never having attended a political event, it makes me realise why people do it, the lure and electricity of being shouted at.

Anyhow, against a witty comment from a probable plant, many members of the audience did pipe up in the interactive bit, which used mics, and involved comments from all areas of the theatre. I know they were real cos they failed to address what speech they were actually reacting to, and just got indignant about the plot instead.

The Duke of York is probably a bit too boxy and claustrophobic for really exciting staging involving audiences. I remember how, at Chichester, Hugh Bonneville got quite a work-out running up and down those broad, diagonal aisles, visible to all. But even if he is constrained physically, Smith nails the emotions.

Anyhow, I think this will bed into a 4 star show, but at this early stage, it's more like 3 and a half stars.

PS: The front 3 rows (AA, BB, A) got given Macintoshes in the interval to protect them from possible (washable) paint splashes. There weren't any major splashes tonight, but there could have been.

What was the witty comment? You can put it in spoilers if you like. 

I went to see this last night and enjoyed it but it wasn't perfect. I personally am always interested when productions class themselves as 're-imagined' and especially when it is slightly avant-garde European productions.

This story is really one that is still as persistent as when it was first written. I enjoyed Matt Smiths performance here more than him in Lungs and felt he held the play together well. I enjoyed the rest of the cast too but some of them felt a bit under utilised like Nigel Lindsay and even Jessica Brown Findlay.

I personally felt like the audience participation scene did not add anything to this production. From what I was gauging, as it is a piece of fiction an audience don't care too much about voicing their opinion or elaborating on it too much. It is not a real life story so the stakes are really not that high. That is not the fault of the audience at all but it felt like the director wants it to be a moment that probably won't happen across the whole of the run. It is always going to be a room full of more left leaning people who just want to sit and watch a play, not be asked questions.

I think this would have worked more as a 90 minute straight through play and cut the non needed music sections. Why did they need to be a band ?

But despite these comments I did enjoy my time and had an engaging night out.

Saw this Saturday afternoon and adored it.

Has anyone won a single lottery seat for this?

I always enter for just 1 ticket and haven’t won

Wondering if I’d have more luck trying for 2, as I’ve read some rush tickets won’t give you 1 but will give you 2

Yes, on my first attempt for the Saturday matinee. Seemed at least another 3-4 solo winners in the front row when I went too.

They're not actors 🤣

And this is a very good staging of the play, though I must say it had more humor than other productions I've seen, which was refreshing.

I feel awful for whoever has to reset that mess between performances.