*****Over my years of reviewing plays, I have been asked, over and over, “How can you see a play that you have already seen?”. My response has always been that every production is unique and unto itself. When a different director , different cast, different venue are part of the scenario, the play can have a different feel. Yes, the script is the same, unless we are watching a new adaptation, where there may be tweaks, so I walk into the theater with an open mind.

Last night was the “Inaugural Opening Night” at TimeLine Theatre’s wonderful building in the Uptown neighborhood, of a Chicago Premiere of Amy Herzog’s adaptation of “An Enemy of the People”, a story deep in political pressure that Henrik Ibsen penned almost 150 years ago. The main character is Doctor Stockman ( a magnificent performance by Will Allan) who as a scientist has found that the unique spa recently opened for their community, may in fact be harmful to the community. He has published a paper that details all of the problems and feels the need to tell the community.

His brother, Peter (  deftly handled by Behzad Dabu) is the Mayor of the town, and his power is so great that he appears to have control over them all, with the exception of his brother and his niece, Petra (Campbell Krausen). Dr. Stockmann’s belief that his study is true and actual leads him to sacrifice everything to ensure the safety of the community. Peter, on the other hand, fears that the community will fold should this information leak out and uses his power to get a town meeting assembled where he and his cohorts,  The newspaper publisher , Hovstad ( Grayson Kennedy), Aslaksen ( Anish Jethmalani), and  Billing ( Kenneth Hamilton) help in not allowing the Doctor to use specific words.

When Doctor Stockmann takes the floor, he truly takes over the theater as well. Directed by Ron OJ Parson, on a set designed by John Culbert, in this glorious new venue, the audience becomes spellbound by the political atmosphere that almost feels as if this is current. Is what Dr. Stockmann saying what might be called “Fake News”? Or is it the stifling of said information by the Mayor that could fall into that category. This is where the doctor is declared “An Enemy of the People”.

The other cast members in this quality production are  Captain Horster ( Charles Andrew Gardner) and Morten Kill ( David Parkes) Dr. Stockmann’s father-in-law, who starts buying up the shares of the baths and asks his son-in-law to change his tune afterwards so that he can make a killing. The story is filled with pictures of corruption in politics and how people are easy to fool if they listen without knowing facts. I will not give away some of the sub stories contained in this masterpiece, but will tell you that there are sme special effects that will stun you.

The lighting ( Brandon Wardell), sound ( Andre Pluess), Costumes ( Christine Pascual) and properties ( Nicolas Bartleson) are as always sheer perfection. The fight direction was by Joe Foust, and a whole ensemble of Timeline members worked hard to bring this new adaptation to this new venue that is now the permanent home for TimeLine. As always, in the foyer there are artices of interest about the story and the play that this company has been known for over the past 29 years.

Tonight was powerful and the only problem that I saw is getting the bar to move along a little faster, but I understand that this will happen with time, and one of the neat things is pre-buying your drink for intermission and having it in the upper lobby when the act is over. Very nice touch!

“An Enemy of  the People” will continue Thru – Jun 14th with performances as follows: