An Enemy of the People

For my thesis, I am creating a new adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s drama An Enemy of the People.  The original tells the story of a scientist, who discovers that his town’s lucrative freshwater baths have been polluted.... [ view full abstract ]

For my thesis, I am creating a new adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s drama An Enemy of the People.  The original tells the story of a scientist, who discovers that his town’s lucrative freshwater baths have been polluted. When the scientist tries to bring this problem to the public’s attention, he thinks he'll at least be thanked for discovering the issue. Ultimately, the local politicians prevent the Doctor’s science from reaching the public, fearing that unfavorable news about the baths will damage the town’s tourist-based economy. It’s a story of one man trying to persuade the majority that his truth is not only right, but also in the community’s best interest.

My new adaptation sets this story in the Florida Keys in the 1990s. It was at this time that the Florida Keys, once home of the country’s most pristine coral reefs, were going through a water-pollution crisis. Like in An Enemy of the People, there was a small circle of controversial scientists who saw where this pollution was coming from, but the politicians and authorities refused to believe them. They shunned them, and basically branded them “enemies of the people.”