Watching Thomas Ostermeier\u2019s re-imagining of An Enemy of the People, starring Doctor Who<\/a> legend Matt Smith, it quickly becomes clear why the first word used to describe it in the advertising is \u201cbold\u201d.<\/p>\n The new West End offering, which is based on the Henrik Ibsen classic, sees Smith star as Dr Stockmann, the medical officer (or, erm, doctor) employed by a spa, which is the heart of a small town.<\/p>\n When he discovers a disturbing truth about his employer, he knows he must tell the truth \u2013 but it\u2019s not quite that simple. Just how far will he go for the truth and how much is he prepared to lose along the way?<\/p>\n Of course, it\u2019s a starry casting, but that does nothing to take away from the rest of the spectacular cast, who expertly switch from playful and friendly in their interactions to menacing and betraying.<\/p>\n The chemistry between Smith and Jessica Brown Findlay as the doctor\u2019s wife, Katharina Stockmann, is easy, while Paul Hilton steals the show throughout with his hilarious, yet ominous, portrayal of the doctor\u2019s brother and mayor of the town, Peter Stockmann.<\/p>\n While Smith might be the way in for many audience members, he won\u2019t be the only reason they\u2019ll be thinking about the show for days afterwards. That credit has to go to the risky and surprising choices made throughout.<\/p>\n It\u2019s clear how much thought has gone into every single detail. The staging is simple, with transitions that refuse to be hidden with West End magic \u2013 instead, they become a creative part of the performance, with Zachary Hart (Billing) clearly relishing in finding the humour in these moments.<\/p>\n Everything that can be done for real is done for real, including a couple of gloriously brutal and messy moments that had audience members gasping. Meanwhile, an actual German Shepherd is used as part of the cast (shout-out to Leyla, who completely stole the show).<\/p> It\u2019s during the second act that Smith has his shining moment \u2013 a monologue that single-handedly will prompt standing ovations. Of course, there\u2019s no doubting Smith\u2019s talent, but it never hurts to have a reminder of why he\u2019s one of our best actors \u2013 and this biting monologue is the perfect reminder.<\/p>\n Immediately afterwards comes the biggest surprise, and the biggest risk from Ostermeier with a sequence that leaves every single audience member with nowhere to hide. It\u2019s Priyanga Burford as Aslaksen, who\u2019s at the helm during this moment and, let\u2019s face it, it\u2019s the hardest job of all. She easily navigates a sequence that could (and probably will at some point) go badly wrong with humour, tenacity, and incredibly quick wits.<\/p>\n While that one sequence might pull audience members out of the performance after immersing them in the story, that\u2019s no bad thing here. Without spoiling too much, it\u2019s an uncomfortable reminder of just how relevant Ibsen\u2019s original 1882 work is a century and a half later \u2013 and that is absolutely terrifying. It\u2019s\u00a0 a gigantic risk and it\u2019s something that\u2019s likely to divide audiences but, with a simple addition to the show, Ostermeier manages to make his production practice what it preaches and it\u2019s an inspired move.<\/p>\n An Enemy of the People is full of contradictions that somehow work \u2013 it\u2019s incredibly serious and incredibly funny, it\u2019s messy and meticulous, with characters that are simultaneously moral and morally corrupt. One thing remains clear throughout \u2013 the truth \u2013 but how murky your own attitude towards it may become could shock you.<\/p>\n For any audience members unsure on how they feel, the ending will be what secures An Enemy of the People as one for the ages. A small and mesmerising moment between Smith\u2019s Stockmann and Findlay\u2019s Katharina had every audience member leaving asking themselves and each other the one big question upon which everything hinges: \u201cWhat would you do?\u201d<\/p>\n Stay up to date with our\u00a0Going Out<\/a>\u00a0section for more news, ticketing releases, and guides. Alternatively, check out more of our\u00a0Sci-Fi<\/a>\u00a0coverage or visit our\u00a0TV Guide<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Streaming Guide<\/a>\u00a0to find out what\u2019s on tonight.<\/strong><\/p>\n Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only \u00a310 \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>subscribe now<\/strong><\/a>. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to\u00a0<\/strong>The Radio Times Podcast<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div> <\/body><\/html>\n A huge risk pays off. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":46274,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/02\/an-enemy-of-the-people-review-unflinching-matt-smith-reimagining-shines.jpg",1969,1313,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/02\/an-enemy-of-the-people-review-unflinching-matt-smith-reimagining-shines-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/02\/an-enemy-of-the-people-review-unflinching-matt-smith-reimagining-shines-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/02\/an-enemy-of-the-people-review-unflinching-matt-smith-reimagining-shines-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/02\/an-enemy-of-the-people-review-unflinching-matt-smith-reimagining-shines-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/02\/an-enemy-of-the-people-review-unflinching-matt-smith-reimagining-shines-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/02\/an-enemy-of-the-people-review-unflinching-matt-smith-reimagining-shines.jpg",1969,1313,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"A huge risk pays off.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/46273"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Zachary](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2024\/02\/L-R-Zachary-Hart-Billing-Jessica-Brown-Findlay-Katharina-Stockmann-Matt-Smith-Dr-Stockmann-and-Shubham-Saraf-Hovstad-credit-Manuel-Harlan-36fc8bb.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"Zachary")
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