National Theatre of Scotland is delighted to be returning to Scotland’s live stages in autumn 2021, with the Company’s first national tour since venues were closed due to COVID-19 in 2020. The production will now tour to venues across Scotland in October and November 2021 including the Beacon Arts Centre, Greenock, Dundee Rep Theatre, King’s Theatre, Edinburgh, Eden Court Theatre, Inverness and Perth Theatre. The production was in rehearsal when the pandemic halted its original tour in Spring 2020.

Directed by Finn den Hertog, video design Lewis den Hertog, sound design Matt Padden, original set design Rosanna Vize, composer Kathryn Joseph, lighting designer Katharine Williams, set and costume designer Jen McGinley, co-movement directors Vicki Manderson and Robbie Gordon, assistant director Leonie Rae Gasson

Henrik Ibsen’s iconic play An Enemy of the People is given a contemporary Scottish re-imagining in this brand-new stage adaptation from the award-winning team of playwright Kieran Hurley and director Finn den Hertog.

In a once-proud Scottish industrial town, a massive redevelopment project promises to bring money, jobs, and new prospects to its forgotten population. However, when Kirsten Stockmann discovers a dangerous secret, she knows she must bring the truth to light – no matter the cost.

This urgent, provocative new production feels increasingly relevant in 2021. Set during a public health crisis, The Enemy scrutinises corruption and power amidst a changing media landscape and explores what it means to hold power to account in a post-truth political world.

Members of the original cast are reunited following the production’s delayed premiere. In this radical reworking of the classic drama the roles of Dr Stockman and his brother are played by women. The Stockmann sisters are played by Hannah Donaldson and Gabriel Quigley and are joined by a leading Scottish ensemble of actors: Billy Mack, Neil McKinven, Taqi Nazeer and Eléna Redmond.

Featuring a brooding original soundtrack from award-winning composer Kathryn Joseph and startling live video, The Enemy is a uniquely contemporary and Scottish take on Ibsen’s timeless work. This tour marks the first time that a version of Ibsen’s classic play has been staged in Scotland for over forty years.

Kieran Hurley says:

It is a real joy to be able to bring The Enemy to audiences at last, after this long hiatus. When we went into lockdown in March last year we were literally on the verge of going into rehearsals, and things have been so uncertain that there was never a guarantee we’d be back in this place. So it feels like a triumph of everyone’s determination and hard work to even be here at all, bringing a new production to live audiences which is what it’s all about. What’s really fascinating to me though is how the pandemic has at times mirrored the world of the play, casting its conversation about a society in the grip of a public health crisis in a whole new light. What we thought was an adaption focused on quite current themes of fake news, distrust of experts, and the treacherous whirlwind of public opinion in an age of social media has now taken on a whole new contemporary relevance that we could never have predicted in a million years. It’s been genuinely surreal, and testament I suppose to the enduring relevance of Ibsen’s original. It’s been a long uncertain wait but maybe, in all of this, the play has somehow found its moment.

Kieran Hurley is an award-winning writer, performer, and theatre maker based in Glasgow. His recent work has included the stage hits Mouthpiece, Square Go, and Heads Up, as well as the Scottish BAFTA-winning film Beats, based on his acclaimed stage play of the same name. His previous project with the National Theatre of Scotland, Rantin, was presented in collaboration with The Arches, and toured Scotland in 2014.

Finn den Hertog is an award-winning director and actor who has worked with theatre companies across the UK including The Traverse, The Young Vic and The National Theatre. Previous work with National Theatre of Scotland includes The Auteurs Project in 2014, as well as appearing in Abi Morgan’s play 27 in 2012. In 2018 he directed the award-winning production of Kieran Hurley and Gary McNair’s play Square Go for Francesca Moody Productions.

Cast: Hannah Donaldson, Billy Mack, Neil McKinven, Taqi Nazeer, Gabriel Quigley and Eléna Redmond

Touring to Greenock, Dundee, Edinburgh, Inverness and Perth in October and November 2021

Opening performance at Dundee Rep on Wednesday 13 October 2021

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