In a clever trick that pulls us into the community about to witness the spectacular downfall of the public figure crusading for truth at the center of, a bar descends from above during the pause between acts, with theatergoers filing onto the stage to be served shots of aquavit while musicians and singers perform traditional Norwegian songs. Several audience members stay seated around the periphery when the action resumes.
Part of what keeps it interesting is the play’s refusal to let liberals off the hook for attitudes ranging from naivete to belligerent superiority. Strong’s Stockmann is a flawed man, as compelling for his intransigent arrogance as for his righteous indignation. He has no trouble getting Hovstad and the latter’s quasi-radical colleague Billing on board to publish the findings in, a name that morphs from symbolic to bitterly ironic as the play unfolds. Hovstad has long been impatient for a changing of the guard, with the rich old men of the town council overdue to be nudged aside for new blood with more progressive ideas. He thinks the disaster of the resort and the investors’ cost-cutting plumbing will be enough to discredit them.
Denied an official outlet to publish his report, Thomas declares his intention to speak directly to the people at a town meeting. That assembly is an increasingly raucous affair, and anyone who has ever rankled at bureaucratic obstructionism will wince at the insidious efficiency of Peter and Aslaksen, working in tandem to keep Thomas from speaking. The scene is played as a grim crescendo, its outcome chilling.
Strong has never been an actor to shy away from an abrasive edge, but he maintains sufficient balance to keep us in Thomas’ corner. The startling image of his total physical submission after the brutality of the meeting also gives the character’s treatment by the townsfolk real pathos. If Herzog’s Chekhovian adjustments to the play’s ending feel less sure-footed, it still leaves us with a sick feeling of moral rot and the isolation of those who speak out against it in a corrupted society.
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