About the project
An Enemy of The People
Dramatic Reading of An Enemy of the People, by Henrik Ibsen
Adapted, directed, and facilitated by Bryan Doerries
An Enemy of the People presents acclaimed actors, public health leaders, scientists, journalists, elected officials, and local community members performing dramatic readings of scenes from Henrik Ibsen’s 1882 play An Enemy of the People to help frame powerful, guided audience discussions aimed at generating connection, understanding, compassion, moral repair, and much-needed healing. The play tells the story of a doctor who discovers the water supply in his small, rural town has been poisoned by a tannery. Despite his efforts to convey the truth to the public, the doctor fails to save his community from environmental disaster and is ultimately scapegoated for his whistleblowing. An Enemy of the People was first performed in Norway in 1882, and yet it speaks to the present moment as if it were written for our times — to the corrosive influence of power and money in politics, the distortions of the media, and the many other challenges to public health in our culture today, especially during times of crisis.
About the play
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An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen
First performed in Norway in 1882, An Enemy of The People tells the story of a doctor who discovers the water supply in his small, rural town has been poisoned by a tannery. Despite his efforts to convey the truth to the public, the doctor fails to save his community from environmental disaster and is ultimately scapegoated for his whistleblowing.
An Enemy of The People
"‘Enemy of the People’ is the 19th century drama that still resonates with our pandemic-scarred society"
Los Angeles Times / 2024
“In Greek tragedy, everyone believes they’re right and pursues it,” he said. “These are stories about people who learn too late, usually by milliseconds, and in that time destroy themselves and generations to come. But here, everyone, except for Stockmann, who isn’t socially aware of how he’s perceived, seems to know they’re wrong and are pursuing it anyway with full consciousness.” Read the full piece in the LA Times by Charles McNulty.
David Strathairn plays Doctor Stockmann
National Academy of Sciences / 2024
David Strathairn plays Doctor Stockmann at An Enemy of The People: A Public Health Project at The National Academy of Sciences in Washington D.C.
The Audience of An Enemy of The People
National Academy of Sciences / 2024
A packed house at The National Academy of Sciences! The audience eagerly participated in the scenes with the chorus of public health leaders, scientists, journalists, EMTs, and Nurses.
Brían F. O'Byrne
National Academy of Sciences / 2024
Brían F. O'Byrne plays Aslaksen in Ibsen's An Enemy of The People.
Brían F. O'Byrne
National Academy of Sciences / 2024
Brían F. O'Byrne plays Aslaksen in Ibsen's An Enemy of The People.
Audience claps
National Academy of Sciences / 2024
The Audience took cues from the chorus of public health leaders, scientists, journalists, EMTs, and Nurses and participated in act IV of Ibsen's An Enemy of The People.
Hybridity
National Academy of Sciences / 2024
We were glad to bring the audience at The National Academy of Sciences in dialogue with a global audience on Zoom tuning in from 19 countries: United States, Peru, Australia, Indonesia, Canada, Mexico, Denmark, Spain, New Zealand, Guatemala, United Kingdom, Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia, Argentina, Hong Kong SAR, United Arab Emirates, Chile, Israel.
Peter Marks in the Chorus
National Academy of Sciences / 2024
Peter Marks (The Washington Post's chief theater critic from 2002 to 2023) enthusiastically participated in the chorus of An Enemy of The People.
Cynda Rushton in the Chorus
National Academy of Sciences / 2024
Cynda Rushton PhD, RN, FAAN, is the Anne and George L. Bunting Professor of Clinical Ethics in the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics and the School of Nursing, participated as a Chorus member in An Enemy of The People.
Victor Dzau
National Academy of Sciences / 2024
Victor Dzau, President of the United States National Academy of Medicine of the United States National Academy of Sciences, participated in the chorus of An Enemy of The People.
Gloria Addo-Ayensu
National Academy of Sciences / 2024
Gloria Addo-Ayensu, MD, MPH, Director of Health for Fairfax County, in chorus rehearsal for An Enemy of The People.
Michael Sullivan plays Chorus Member 1
National Academy of Sciences / 2024
Michael Patrick Sullivan, Paramedic, FDNY EMS, South Bronx plays Chorus Member 1.
Jeffrey Kahn
National Academy of Sciences / 2024
Jeffrey Kahn, PhD, MPH, Andreas C. Dracopoulos Director; Robert Henry Levi and Ryda Hecht Levi Professor of Bioethics and Public Policy, played the drunk in An Enemy of The People.
Cast smiles before the start of An Enemy of The People
National Academy of Sciences / 2024
Kathryn Erbe, Frankie Faison, David Strathairn, Jay O. Sanders, Peter Francis James
Panelists
National Academy of Sciences / 2024
Anthony Almojera (Lieutenant Paramedic, FDNY EMS, Vice President of the Uniformed EMS Officers Union, Local 3621), Natalie Bobila ( Francis Collins (former director of the NIH), and Grelia Steele (Global Continuity and Crisis Manager, Guidehouse), served on the panel.
Brian F. O'Byrne plays Aslaksen
National Academy of Sciences / 2024
Audience
National Academy of Sciences / 2024
Frankie Faison plays Morten Kiil
National Academy of Sciences / 2024
Cast of An Enemy of The People
National Academy of Sciences / 2024
Cast of An Enemy of The People
National Academy of Sciences / 2024
Marjolaine Goldsmith, Kathryn Erbe, Frankie Faison, David Strathairn, Jay O. Sanders, Peter Francis James, Brian F. O'Byrne
Audience Members
National Academy of Sciences / 2024
The cast of the premiere of An Enemy of The People: A Public Health Project
Washington D.C. / 2024
The cast of the premiere of An Enemy of The People: A Public Health Project featured performances by David Strathairn (Nomadland), Frankie Faison (The Wire), Kathryn Erbe (Law & Order: Criminal Intent), Peter Francis James (Oz), Jay O. Sanders (True Detective), Brían F. O'Byrne (The Wonder), Francis Collins (Former Director, National Institutes of Health), Monica Feit (Executive Director, Health and Medicine Division, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine), Jeffrey Kahn (Director, Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics), Keshia Pollack Porter (Chair, Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health), Victor Dzau (President, National Academy of Medicine), Vivian Pinn (Senior Scientist Emerita at the NIH Fogarty International Center), Ruth Faden (Berman Institute Founder; Philip Franklin Wagley Professor of Biomedical Ethics), Grelia Steele (Global Continuity and Crisis Manager, Guidehouse), Peter Marks(former chief theater critic, The Washington Post), Gloria Addo-Ayensu (Director of Health, Fairfax County Health Department), Graham Sack (Filmmaker, Dracopoulos-Bloomberg iDeas Lab Fellow), Nancy Kass (Deputy Director for Public Health, Berman Institute of Bioethics), Joshua M. Sharfstein (Vice Dean for Public Health Practice and Community Engagement at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health), Marjolaine Goldsmith (Company Manager, Theater of War Productions), Cynda Rushton (Anne and George L. Bunting Professor of Clinical Ethics, John Hopkins School of Nursing), Anthony Almojera (Lieutenant Paramedic, FDNY EMS, Vice President of the Uniformed EMS Officers Union, Local 3621), Michael Patrick Sullivan (Paramedic, FDNY EMS, South Bronx) and Emily Packard Dawson (Program Officer, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine).
This event will be captioned in English on Zoom.
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