HOW should a director approach a classic? Offer a radical update or respect the period and setting of the original? Both methods may be equally valid, as proved by two current revivals of Ibsen and Chekhov, which are poles apart yet equally spectacular.
Ibsen's An Enemy Of The People, now at the Duke of York's in a production by Thomas Ostermeier, is a play that positively invites rebooting. First staged in 1883, it shows Dr Stockmann, the medical officer of a small spa town, discovering that the baths on which the place's livelihood depends are toxic. He expects to be hailed as a hero. Instead, he is condemned by the local mayor, who happens to be his brother, and finds his initial champions in the press turning against him. It is a classic study of how the whistleblower is vilified when he threatens a community's wealth and is the prototype of many plays and films, including Steven Spielberg's Jaws.
Herr Ostermeier, who originally staged the production in German and now supervises the English version, doesn't mess about. He places the action in today's world: Matt Smith's Dr Stockmann runs a local rock group and his marriage to his teacher-wife is distinctly edgy. David Bowie's Changes provides a constant background, but the big innovation is to turn the town-hall meeting, where Dr Stockmann states his case, into an audience-involving event. The house-lights go up, Mr Smith launches into a tirade claiming 'our whole society is polluted' and we are invited to vote on the issue and to offer our opinions.
Denne historien er fra March 20, 2024-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra March 20, 2024-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Kitchen garden cook - Apples
'Sweet and crisp, apples are the epitome of autumn flavour'
The original Mr Rochester
Three classic houses in North Yorkshire have come to the market; the owner of one inspired Charlotte Brontë to write Jane Eyre
Get it write
Desks, once akin to instruments of torture for scribes, have become cherished repositories of memories and secrets. Matthew Dennison charts their evolution
'Sloes hath ben my food'
A possible paint for the Picts and a definite culprit in tea fraud, the cheek-suckingly sour sloe's spiritual home is indisputably in gin, says John Wright
Souvenirs of greatness
FOR many years, some large boxes have been stored and forgotten in the dark recesses of the garage. Unpacked last week, the contents turned out to be pots: some, perhaps, nearing a century old—dense terracotta, of interesting provenance.
Plants for plants' sake
The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire The home of Edward Banks The Banks family is synonymous with an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are presents from distinguished friends, garnered over two centuries. Be prepared to be amazed, says Charles Quest-Ritson
Capturing the castle
Seventy years after Christian Dior’s last fashion show in Scotland, the brand returned under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for a celebratory event honouring local craftsmanship, the beauty of the land and the Auld Alliance, explains Kim Parker
Nature's own cathedral
Our tallest native tree 'most lovely of all', the stately beech creates a shaded environment that few plants can survive. John Lewis-Stempel ventures into the enchanted woods
All that money could buy
A new book explores the lost riches of London's grand houses. Its author, Steven Brindle, looks at the residences of plutocrats built by the nouveaux riches of the late-Victorian and Edwardian ages
In with the old
Diamonds are meant to sparkle in candlelight, but many now gather dust in jewellery boxes. To wear them today, we may need to reimagine them, as Hetty Lintell discovers with her grandmother's jewellery
