An Enemy of the People

Before we had Jonathan Groff performing in Wicked’s basement, as he calls it (aka Circle in the Square Theatre) in 2025, we had an updated adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s 1882 play, An Enemy of the People, in this intimate Broadway venue in 2024. This adaptation of An Enemy of the People on Broadway was created by the award-winning playwright Amy Herzog, who won the 2024 Drama Desk Award for “Outstanding Adaptation” for this play. The play also received a 2024 Tony Award nomination for “Best Revival of a Play” in the same year she also received a Tony Award nomination for “Best Play” with Mary Jane (side note: Mary Jane is coming to Seattle Rep in March 2026). In other words, this adaptation of An Enemy of the People is fresh, vetted on Broadway, and very good. What better venue to bring this award-wining play to than the similar Allen Theatre at Union Arts Center, where we are also treated to the intimacy of theatre in the round?

Director Victor Pappas has taken this incredible work of Amy Herzog, based on the classic by Henrik Ibsen, assembled a top notch cast and creative team, and put together a high quality production that is both entertaining and meaningful.

“That was timely” was the comment from the patron behind me when the lights went down at the end of the show. While it may feel disheartening that a story written in 1882 that we should have learned from is once again relevant, this recurring issue with humans is actually acknowledged in the story. The story highlights the complexities and differing perspectives of challenging situations when not everyone has the same values, ethics, or motives.

The cast is excellent, as is consistently the case at ACT. The set, costumes, lighting, and sound are also top notch. The choreography, especially at the end of the show, is incredible.

The cast includes Bjorn Anders, Tommy Beale, Shawn Belyea, Aaron Blakely, Bradford Farwell, Daniel Hanlon, Lee Ann Hittenberger, Nehemiah Hooks, Josh Kenji Langager, Alanah Pascual, Robert Shampain, Ricky Spaulding, and Jace Tucker.

The creative team includes Matthew Smucker (scenic design), Cathy Hunt (costume design), Connie Yun (lighting design), Thorn Michaels (assistant lighting design), Dominic Codykramers (sound design), Robertson Witmer (composer), Alyssa Keene (dialect coach), Geoffrey Alm (fight director), Rachel Nesvig (hardanger fiddle and violin), and Grant Olson (cello). Melissa Y. Hamasaki is stage manager, and Nicola Krause is assistant stage manager.

An Enemy of the People is the first show of the 2025-26 season, which is the first season with ACT and Seattle Shakespeare merged under the new name Union Arts Center.

The show closes next Sunday, October 5. Due to the short run and small theatre capacity, get your tickets soon!

See more show reviews from 2025.