By Henrik Ibsen
Directed by Johanna Kasimow
A New Version Adapted by the Ensemble

Lighting Design, Composer, Sound Design

Creative Team

Sound Samples

“Toxic Baths”

“The Mob”

Design Statement

An Eerie Foreshadowing in Light and Sound:
Creating a Container for Ibsen’s Irony

⁠Ibsen’s ironic choice to make a healing spa—or “baths”—the source of poison in the town served as the primary inspiration for both my sound and lighting designs in this production. I aimed to express the tension between opposing forces: healing baths versus sickly waters, poisonous stability versus healthy instability. The challenge was to generate a container capable of holding both realities simultaneously, mirroring the duality and cleverness of Ibsen’s original work. ⁠

In lighting, I explored the Kelvin scale to honor Ibsen’s realism, gradually introducing expressionist color choices as the production progressed. As the theatrical façade dissolved, the lighting became paradoxically more theatrical, emphasizing the unresolved conflict as it spiraled toward disorder. Visually, I drew from Scandinavian interior design, emphasizing shape, edge, verticality, and the boundaries between elements. Brightly lit, cool-toned interior spaces with off-putting warm lamps stood in stark contrast to the dim, warm, shadowed atmosphere of the spa upstaged by the cool boundary of the playing space.

The sound design operated outside the diegetic world, functioning instead as a transitional score. I manipulated ambient instruments to evoke discomfort and used percussion to intentionally disrupt rhythmic expectations. Long, ambient “healing” tones were layered with dissonant, syncopated rhythms to heighten tension. Breakbeats and arpeggiated patterns emerged at key moments, reflecting the protagonist’s overactive mind. The goal was to create a sonic environment that should feel soothing—but instead generates unease. Musical inspirations included the highly percussive work of Aphex Twin, Vadoinmessico, Spoon, and the crystal healing bowl compositions of Tryshe Dhevney.

Together, sound and lighting served as the interstitial energy—a container for the work of the actor-playwrights. I intended the design to function as a subtle signal of the persistent friction in our lives between subjective notions of right and wrong. These elements combined to create an atmosphere of eerie foreshadowing—where no one wins, no one loses, and lives are inevitably lost.

—Søren Olsen

Synopsis

In a small rural town, the economy is flourishing as tourists flock to the local baths, creating palpable optimism in the community. But when a local respected scientist makes a catastrophic discovery that the water supply is contaminated, the future of the town becomes unclear. In a new adaptation, directed by Johanna Kasimow and created with the ensemble, An Enemy of the People sparks a tenuous dialogue about truth and the complex navigation of collective responsibility. The text of this production has been adapted by the ensemble using the first English translation of the play by Eleanor Marx Aveling.

Special thanks to Liz McTernan.

Cast

Abby Paul – Billings
Alicia Philadelphia – K. Stockmann
Andrew Reece – M.Kill
Dale Leonheart – Aslaksen
Joey Lepire – Dr. Stockman
Lear Urzendowski – P. Stockmann
Raphael Thomé – Hovstad
Sara Alvidrez – Horster
Ava Slater – Townsperson
Fabienne Rink – Townsperson
Mary Mayo – Townsperson
Gleisson Santos – Townsperson