19:45, Tue 1st – Sat 5th November 2011 at ADC Theatre
Michaelmas Week 4

When Dr Stockmann discovers the public baths are poisonous, he expects the people of his small Norwegian hometown to welcome him as a saviour. However, after the cost of the proposed improvements is made clear to the Mayor of the town, the pragmatic politician moves to manipulate both the press and public opinion against Dr Stockmann, his own brother.

‘You really are hell bent on our destruction, aren’t you?’

‘I love this town intensely. I’m wedded to it. Nobody wants to see their bride become syphilitic.’

Henrik Ibsen, widely hailed as ‘the Father of modern Drama’, tells a searing tale of honour, love and ambition. In a democracy, is 'the truth' ever more than what the the majority say it is? Is it worth pursuing at the expense of those one loves? Can the press be separated from power politics? Perhaps most pertinently, is Dr Stockmann’s discovery any more inconvenient than those that 21st century governments routinely suppress?