Full casting announced for AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE
Hugh Bonneville is joined by Abigail Cruttenden, Jonathan Cullen, William Gaminara and Adam James
22 April – 21 May, Festival Theatre
Hugh Bonneville returns to the stage in AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE by Henrik Ibsen, in a version by Christopher Hampton, directed by Howard Davies, running at Chichester Festival Theatre from 22 April – 21 May, with a press night on 4 May. He is joined by a distinguished company which also includes Trevor Cooper, Jim Creighton, Abigail Cruttenden (as Mrs Stockmann), Jonathan Cullen (as Aslaksen), Michael Fox, William Gaminara (as Peter Stockmann), Adam James (as Hovstad) and Alice Orr-Ewing. A local community company will also take part in the play.
The brilliant Dr Stockmann, Chief Medical Officer of the Baths, has made a shocking scientific discovery about the standards of sanitation at the popular local spa. Luckily technology has a ready solution: the polluted baths must close immediately, so cleansing and rebuilding work can be carried out. But not everyone sees things quite so simply. What about the impact of closure on tourism, property and commerce? What about the town’s wider image and reputation?
Dr Stockmann’s brother, the Mayor, has one drastic response. The local tradespeople and property owners have another. Now it is up to the liberal press. Dare they print the facts Dr Stockmann has uncovered, and let the public make up their own minds?
Ibsen’s play is a searing examination of the intricate workings of power and influence, and an investigation into who holds real authority in society.
Hugh Bonneville returns to the stage to play Dr Stockmann. Known to a worldwide TV and film audience for the multi-award-winning Downton Abbey, Twenty Twelve, W1A and Paddington, he last appeared at Chichester in The Handyman (1996). His earlier theatre work for the National Theatre included School for Wives, Yerma, Entertaining Strangers, Juno and the Paycock, Charles Surface in The School for Scandal and title role in The Devil’s Disciple; and for the RSC, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Alchemist, ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore, The Virtuoso, Amphibians and Laertes to Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet. Other theatre includes Habeas Corpus (Donmar Warehouse), My Night with Reg (Criterion and Playhouse), Us and Them (Hampstead), Cloaca (The Old Vic) and seasons at Colchester and Leicester Haymarket. His extensive television work also includes The Cazalets, Take a Girl Like You, Armadillo, Daniel Deronda, The Commander, The Gathering Storm, Love Again, The Robinsons, The Vicar of Dibley, Freezing, Rev, Getting On, Mr Stink, Galavant, Diary of a Nobody, Tsunami – The Aftermath, Miss Austen Regrets, Five Days, Hunter, The Silence, Doctor Who and the forthcoming The Hollow Crown. His films include Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Notting Hill, Mansfield Park, Stage Beauty, Asylum, The Monuments Men, Paddington, Iris, French Film(Monte Carlo Film Festival Best Actor Award), and the forthcoming Viceroy’s House.
Abigail Cruttenden has previously appeared at Chichester in A Marvellous Year for Plums and inThe Rivals; her television work includes Not Going Out, Benidorm and Sharpe.
Jonathan Cullen’s theatre work includes The Master and Margarita, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Seagull and Nathan the Wise at Chichester and numerous appearances at the National Theatre and in the West End.
William Gaminara is best known to TV audiences as Leo Dalton in the BBC series Silent Witnessand, on radio, as Richard Locke in The Archers. His recent stage work includes Oppenheimer for the RSC and in the West End.
Adam James regularly appears on stage in the West End and on Broadway, most recently in Mike Bartlett’s King Charles III for which he won the Clarence Derwent Award for Best Supporting Actor. His stage work also includes Chimes at Midnight and The Glass Menagerie at Chichester.
Howard Davies directed the lauded production of For Services Rendered for Festival 2015; he has received numerous Olivier, Evening Standard and Critics’ Circle Awards for his many productions for the RSC, the National Theatre, in the West End and on Broadway.
AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE will be designed by Tim Hatley, with lighting by Mark Henderson, music by Dominic Muldowney and sound by Mike Walker.
The production is sponsored by Conquest Bespoke Furniture, Harwoods Group and Jackson-Stops & Staff.
Booking information
An Enemy of the People is at the Festival Theatre, Chichester from 22 April – 21 May. Evenings at 7.30pm (except for Press Night, 4 May at 7pm), matinees at 2.30pm.
Tickets: previews/press nights £10 – £30, all other performances £15 – £40.
Box Office 01243 781312
Online cft.org.uk
Prologue: £8.50 tickets for 16 – 25s
An allocation of tickets for 16 – 25 year olds priced at just £8.50 are available for all performances ofAn Enemy of the People. Tickets go on sale on 17 March; bookings 01243 781312, online at cft.org.uk/prologue or in person.