Guide to ‘An Enemy of the People’ on Broadway, starring Jeremy Strong

The Succession Emmy winner plays a whistleblower who pays for telling the truth in this Ibsen drama, which also stars Michael Imperioli and Victoria Pedretti.

Joe DziemianowiczJanuary 23, 2024, 05:00

No good deed goes unpunished. Ask An Enemy of the People's Dr. Thomas Stockmann, who turns up evidence of contaminated water in his town’s therapeutic spas. When the good doc sounds the alarm, he gets treated colder than any ice plunge.

That's the plot of Henrik Ibsen’s enduringly provocative 1882 drama, now back on Broadway in a sleek new adaptation by playwright Amy Herzog. Sam Gold directs Succession Emmy Award winner Jeremy Strong, Michael Imperioli (The Sopranos), and Victoria Pedretti (You) in the revival, the play's 10th, at the Circle in the Square Theatre.

Want to dive deeper into An Enemy of the People? Read more about the stars, award-winning production history, and more fun facts about the Broadway play event of the season.

Get An Enemy of the People tickets now.

What is An Enemy of the People about?

An Enemy of the People revolves around Dr. Thomas Stockmann, a medical officer in a small Norwegian spa town. When he learns that its baths, a vital local moneymaker, are polluted, he seeks to expose the danger. But Dr. Stockmann's fellow townspeople push back, with increasing force, to silence him and protect their own prosperity. Can the hard truths come out?

Where is An Enemy of the People playing?

An Enemy of the People plays at the Circle in the Square Theatre, located at 235 W. 50th St. Designed by Alan Sayles and built in 1970, the intimate 623-seat theatre is located inside Paramount Plaza office tower. It is adjacent to Broadway's largest theatre, the Gershwin.

Productions at Circle in the Square are typically staged in the round, with the audience seated on three sides of the stage. Recent plays and musicals at the theatre include Melissa Etheridge: My Window, KPOP, American Buffalo, Chicken & Biscuits, and Oklahoma!

How long is An Enemy of the People?

An Enemy of the People has yet to begin performances, so a running time has not been finalized. The running time for Broadway plays can range anywhere from 90 minutes to 3 hours, and longer ones often have a 15-minute intermission.

This article will be updated with the latest runtime information when it is available.

What days is An Enemy of the People playing?

An Enemy of the People plays Tuesday through Sunday, with two performances on Wednesdays and Saturdays and no performances on Mondays. The production begins performances on February 27 in advance of the official opening on March 18. The production is slated to run until June 16.

For showtimes and the most up-to-date performance schedule, please visit the An Enemy of the People page.

When did An Enemy of the People premiere?

An Enemy of the People debuted in Norway in 1883 and has subsequently been produced and adapted numerous times around the world — far too many to name. On Broadway alone, the play debuted in 1895. The ninth and most recent revival before the current one was in 2012, with Boyd Gaines in the title role.

Who wrote An Enemy of the People?

Renowned Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, also known for A Doll's House and Hedda Gabler, wrote this 1883 drama. American playwright Amy Herzog adapted An Enemy of the People for this revival, reexamining Ibsen's themes of complex human relationships, societal expectations, and moral dilemmas.

These ideas sit firmly in Herzog’s dramatic wheelhouse. Her previous adaptation of A Doll’s House was nominated for a Tony Award in 2023. Herzog’s plays include Mary Jane (also on Broadway in 2024), 4000 Miles (a Pulitzer Prize finalist), and The Great God Pan (in which Jeremy Strong performed in 2012).

An Enemy of the People characters

Surrounding Dr. Stockmann in the play are his family members and townspeople in his community. Learn more about the major characters in An Enemy of the People.

Dr. Thomas Stockmann: The title character, a principled medical officer whose devotion to the truth backfires.
Peter Stockmann: The doctor’s pragmatic brother whose top priority is maintaining the town's reputation.
Petra Sockmann: Dr. Stockmann’s independent and supportive daughter who suffers for her loyalty.
Hovstad: The ambitious editor of the local newspaper who waffles in support of Dr. Stockmann.
Captain Horster: A friend of Dr. Stockmann who’s punished for his alliance.
Alaksen: A newspaper printer whose support for Dr. Stockmann proves not to be steadfast.
Billing: A newspaper staffer who has ambitions.
Mortin Kiil: A local whose businesses are linked to the source of water pollution.

Who is in the cast of An Enemy of the People on Broadway?

The 2024 An Enemy of the People revival is triple-star-studded affair. Learn more about the familiar faces leading the cast.

Jeremy Strong plays Dr. Stockmann. TV fans know him from his Emmy Award-winning role in Succession, but he has strong stage roots. He made his Broadway debut in A Man for All Seasons and was most recently on stage in 2012 in Herzog’s drama The Great God Pan.
Michael Imperioli makes his Broadway debut as Peter Stockmann, the doctor’s brother. An Emmy winner for The Sopranos, he also appeared in the film Goodfellas and The Lovely Bones. Imperioli was also in Aven’U Boys, a 1993 Off-Broadway play that took a gritty look at urban youth.
Victoria Pedretti plays Petra Stockmann, the doctor’s daughter, in her Broadway debut. Her screen credits include edgy roles in The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, You, and Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood.

What awards has An Enemy of the People won?

The new Broadway adaptation of An Enemy of the People has not yet received awards; it will be eligible for 2024 Tony Awards and other theatre prizes. Surprisingly, no previous Broadway productions of An Enemy of the People have earned Tonys, nor have its screen adaptations earned TV/film awards.

Multiple artists involved with the 2024 revival have earned awards of their own, though — Emmys for actors Jeremy Strong and Michael Imperioli (Succession and The Sopranos), a Tony for director Sam Gold (Fun Home), and a Pulitzer Prize nomination for adapter Amy Herzog (4000 Miles).

Major productions of An Enemy of the People

An Enemy of the People has had numerous major productions since its 1883 debut. Discover more about significant productions of this hard-hitting drama.

1883: Ibsen’s drama premiered in Norway. The protagonist, Dr. Stockmann, served as a stand-in for the author, who tackled harsh truths about society in his work and got flak for it.
1895: An Enemy of the People debuts on Broadway at Abbey’s Theatre. Ten revivals have since followed, including the 2024 one.
1950: Arthur Miller adapted An Enemy of the People for Broadway, and the production starred Fredric March. Miller's version was later adapted into a film starring Steve McQueen.
2012: The most recent Broadway revival of the play, staged by director Doug Hughes, starred Boyd Gaines as Dr. Stockmann and Richard Thomas as Peter Stockmann.
2024: Succession star Jeremy Strong returns to Bradway as Dr. Stockmann in a new adaptation by Amy Herzog, directed by Sam Gold.

Celebrities who have performed in An Enemy of the People

An Enemy of the People provides rich and challenging opportunities for actors in the title role and more. Several familiar names and faces have appeared in the evergreen drama.

Jeremy Strong: Succession's Kendall Roy stars as Thomas Stockmann in the 2024 revival at Circle in the Square on Broadway.
Michael Imperioli: Making his Broadway debut alongside Strong is The Sopranos's Michael Imperioli as the doctor's brother, Peter Stockmann.
Victoria Pedretti: The screen star of You and The Haunting of Hill House makes her Broadway debut in 2024 as Petra Stockmann.
Frederic March: The actor who won Oscars for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and The Best Years of Our Lives starred in Arthur Miller’s 1950 Broadway adaptation.
Ian McKellen: The multi-award-winning stage and screen legend starred in director Trevor Nunn’s 1997 staging at the National Theatre in London.
Boyd Gaines: The Four-time Tony Award winner played Dr. Stockmann alongside Richard Thomas as Peter Stockmann in 2012 on Broadway.
Matt Smith: The Doctor Who star leads a revival in London’s West End that's running at the same time as the 2024 Broadway production.

Onscreen adaptations of An Enemy of the People

The new Broadway stage version of An Enemy of the People hasn’t been filmed, but the play has received multiple big-screen and TV adaptations. Here are some of the major ones.

1966: An NET Playhouse production of Arthur Miller’s adaptation starred James Daly as the well-meaning doctor who runs afoul of his community.
1978: A bearded and bespectacled Steve McQueen (The Great Escape) starred in this big-screen version described on the movie poster as “the story of a man of courage.”
1990: Jack O’Brien directed this TV movie with John Glover as Dr. Stockmann, George Grizzard as Peter Stockmann, and Byron Jennings (Days of Wine and Roses) as Hovstad.

Fun facts about An Enemy of the People

Learn more about the creative inspiration behind the play and the offstage connections among the revival's team.

Ibsen was inspired to write An Enemy of the People after receiving public outrage over his play Ghosts, which tackled taboo topics of venereal disease and moral hypocrisy.
Members of the 2024 revival's creative team went to Norway to do research. Like the original version, the revival is set there in the 1880s.
An Enemy of the People loosely inspired the plot of Steven Spielberg’s 1975 blockbuster movie Jaws, in which a police chief sounds the alarm about a shark in a beach town — but no one wants to acknowledge it at risk of hurting tourist season.
Stockmann’s wife doesn’t appear in Herzog’s adaptation, whereas she was a character in past versions.
This An Enemy of the People revival is a family affair in multiple ways. On stage, the play centers on Stockmann and his family. Off stage, adapter Amy Herzog and director Sam Gold are married.
An Enemy of the People is ripe for reinterpretation. Adaptations have set the play in small-town America, 1930s Greece, and a fictional Scottish town. One adaptation was revised for only two actors.

How to get An Enemy of the People tickets

An Enemy of the People has reverberated with audiences since the late 19th century, and its themes remain resonant and relevant. Don’t miss your chance to see the starry new production on Broadway.