Director Bart DeLorenzo bluntly assesses L.A. theater while remaking Ibsen's 'Enemy of the People'

This is read by an automated voice.Please report any issues or inconsistencies here.

See more from the L.A.Times in Google Search.

Set us as preferred Bart DeLorenzo, L.A.’s most playfully provocative theater auteur, doesn’t need any excuses to direct a Henrik Ibsen play.But if ever there was a moment to revive “An Enemy of the People,” it’s now.The demoralizing spectacle of the U.S.

Senate’s inquisition of Dr.Anthony Fauci last month, led by Sen.

Rand Paul (R-Ky.) in unapologetic witch-hunt mode, was yet another reminder that Ibsen’s drama about a public health crusader being targeted by politicians and business leaders when his medical advice goes counter to their interests hasn’t lost its punch.“I love Ibsen’s work,” DeLorenzo said at lunch at the Original Farmers Market on a recent weekday.

“I’d love to do all of his plays, but of course I’m responding to this moment.You can’t turn on the news without hearing the phrase ‘enemy of the people,’ and it’s not just poor Dr.

Fauci.Every week there’s something — the new vaccine regulations, global warming.

This conflict between science and government, or really just the manipulation of facts to press agendas, is an issue that’s probably never going to go away.”DeLorenzo adapted the play himself for his production, which opened Saturday at the Odyssey Theatre, where he directed Ibsen’s “Ghosts” in 2022.His title, “Enemy of the People,” dispenses with the indefinite article — a decision he chalked up to “Chekhovian impulses.”“I don’t think the play is about one person who stands up against society,” he explained.

“The phrase in 2026 is a weapon that’s thrown around.I tried to look at the play as an ensemble piece, in which the concept of ‘enemy of the people’ is variously targeted on different characters.

I thought that was a much more exciting idea.”The protagonist of Ibsen’s play, Dr.Thomas Stockmann, is a staff physician at...