The embodiment of petty bourgeois philistinism, Anderson’s watchword is “moderation” in all things. The newspaper’s publisher, Stephanie Anderson (Ibsen’s Aslaksen), representing the city’s small business concerns, makes an appearance. The vested interests, the-well, maybe not corruption exactly, but the system, Heather-the system that means these people can do whatever they like without any comeback.” Hofford, at this point supportive of Stockman’s exposé, thinks the contamination speaks to broader issues: “What if the water isn’t the problem, but only a symptom of the problem?… I think this is the perfect opportunity to talk about what’s really going on. And that groundwater is the same groundwater that feeds the pipes into the pump room.” Anyone who uses the water is endangering himself.” It turns out, she explains, that an industrial plant upriver is “seeping chemicals into the groundwater. Mercury, in high proportions, chloroform off the scale-that means legionella copper levels way too high…I’m saying the Wellness Resort is a danger to public health. Stockman tells the newspaper editor Oscar Hofford: “I mean contaminated, Hofford. ![]() Heather Stockman has ascertained through laboratory tests that the water in the town’s economic “salvation,” its Wellness Resort, owned by Mineralcorp, is contaminated with lethal chemicals and carcinogens. Morell’s version follows the general outline of Ibsen’s play. In the play, as in Flint, the water is a symptom of a bigger problem, and I think that needs to be investigated because it affects all of us, not just the city of Flint.” In an interview, Morell explained to a reporter: “It’s not about doing a play about a water crisis in a city experiencing a water crisis-it’s about the underlying issues, like what made the water crisis possible in the first place. Parallels to the present catastrophe in Flint are striking, and hundreds of residents from the city and surrounding area responded enthusiastically to the performances.īritish theater directors Purni Morell and Christian Roe learned about the Flint water crisis in January 2016, while touring the US. ![]() Ibsen’s famed work concerns a doctor, Thomas Stockmann, who tries to warn the local authorities-including his brother, the mayor-about water contamination problems and is persecuted for his discoveries. Written, directed and produced by Purni Morell, based on An Enemy of the People by Henrik IbsenĪ remarkable cultural event took place last week in the devastated city of Flint, Michigan, whose 100,000 inhabitants have been systematically poisoned with dangerous amounts of lead and other deadly contaminants.Īctors from across the US, assisted by a British writer-director, performed Public Enemy: Flint, an adaptation of Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen’s 1882 play, An Enemy of the People, on June 8, 9, and 10 in the gymnasium of a former school.
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