New Fortune Presented:
The West Coast Premiere of Henrik Ibsen's PUBLIC ENEMY.
Version by David Harrower. Directed by Richard Baird.
PUBLIC ENEMY is NOW CLOSED. ​
Stand by for the next show announcement...
2023 BEST OF THEATRE: NEW FORTUNE!
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The San Diego Theatre Critics Circle announces 2023 Craig Noel Award nominees…
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NOMINATATIONS
OUTSTANDING DRAMATIC PRODUCTION: PUBLIC ENEMY
OUTSTANDING DIRECTION: RICHARD BAIRD, PUBLIC ENEMY
WON
OUTSTANDING LEAD PERFORMANCE: RICHARD BAIRD, PUBLIC ENEMY
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“Nothing topped the visceral thrills of watching this edge-of-the-seat thriller…”
UNION TRIBUNE: Top 10 San Diego County theater and opera productions of 2023
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“Public Enemy, New Fortune Theatre Company. This is the only production on this list that I saw twice…”
STAGE WEST: The Best in San Diego Theater for 2023
“Baird’s high-wire performance in the 90-minute thriller was the best, and most fearless, performance I saw all year, and the bare-bones physical production…outshone many of the big-budget shows I saw at theaters 10 times the size.
This theater company has no home theater and no season subscription, and it only produces about one show each year. But I’ve learned that anything New Fortune produces is a must-see that almost always ends up on my “best of the year” list.
UNION TRIBUNE: Year in review: 5 memorable events in San Diego theater in 2023
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ABOUT PUBLIC ENEMY
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Review: ‘Public Enemy’ an edge-of-the-seat thriller about one man taking on the world
"...a tour de force performance... raw, furious, often funny and ultimately devastating.
It’s must-watch theater.
“Public Enemy” is thought-provoking, entertaining and definitely worth seeing before it closes on July 2."
- Pam Kragen
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"Relentless, edge-of-your-seat...
This thought-provoking piece strikes with a visceral, volatile message that gut-slams into the reality of today’s politics...
Do see this play!"
- Jenni Prisk
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"It's thrilling.
It's a triumphant performance.
New Fortune Theatre Company's PUBLIC ENEMY is remarkable... rich with spirited performances... consistently entertaining... you come out of the show drained from the emotional investment... but at the same time on a high from the energy of the production."
-David Coddon
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"Intensely Relevant."
-Cassiopeia Guthrie
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"Perfect... Powerful... Painful."
Alejandra Enciso-Dardashti
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"Formidable... A riveting descent...
...The idea [that] truth is dangerous to the “greater good” as defined by those in power has always been a relevant one."
- ErinMarie Reiter
Broadway World Review: PUBLIC ENEMY at New Fortune Theatre Company
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"...One of the best shows I’ve seen all year — and that’s counting the eight Broadway shows I attended...
New Fortune Theatre Company is presenting “Public Enemy,” a thrilling, 90-minute adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s “An Enemy of the People,” in the small theater at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Point Loma.”
Director and star Richard Baird delivered some of the best acting I’ve seen in 2023 for an audience of maybe 25 people. Baird, and New Fortune, deserve a much bigger audience and more donors."​
-Pam Kragen
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WEST COAST PREMIERE
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With only 3 prior productions in London, NYC and Singapore, New Fortune has been granted the performance rights to this “problematic and provocative” new version of Ibsen’s masterpiece, more familiarly known as “An Enemy of the People.”
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“How far will you go to tell the truth?”
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Ibsen’s blistering classic is brought up to date in David Harrower’s taut, tense and incisive modern dress 90-minute adaptation.
Though written in 1882, En Folkfiende, otherwise known as Enemy of the People reveals truths about contemporary society.
Things are not what they seem in this “raw and punchy adaptation” from playwright David Harrower (Blackbird) which premiered in 2013 at London’s Young Vic. When Dr. Stockmann discovers that the waters of a new public spa are toxic, he expects gratitude and glory. Instead, his disclosure makes him the most hated man in town.
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“Democracy has nothing to do with responsible choices but with Popular choices”
THE CAST
Richard Baird* … Dr. Thomas Stockmann
Danny Campbell … Morten Kiil
Trevor Cruse … Hovstad
Nick Daugherty … Billing
Geoffrey Ulysses Geissinger … Eilif Stockmann
Anthony Graf … Morten Stockmann
Nick Kennedy … Mayor Peter Stockmann
Neil McDonald … Aslaksen
Walter Murray … Captain Horster
Amanda Schaar … Katrine Stockmann
Kimberly Weinberger … Petra Stockmann
*denotes members of Actors Equity Association
ABOUT
About Henrik Ibsen: One of the greatest and certainly the most influential playwrights of the 19th century, Henrik Ibsen was born in 1828 in Norway. After a number of verse plays, including Brand and Peer Gynt, he wrote the 12 monumental prose plays which are performed in every major theatre throughout the world. Ghosts (1881) was banned and attacked when it was first published. Public Enemy (1882) was Ibsen’s powerfully ironic response. Among his other modernist masterpieces are A Doll’s House (1879), Hedda Gabler (1890) and The Master Builder (1892).
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About David Harrower: David Harrower’s plays include Knives in Hens, Kill the Old, Torture Their Young, and Dark Earth (Traverse), Presence (Royal Court) The Chrysalids (NY Connections), Blackbird (Edinburgh International Festival; West End; OLIVIER AWARD BEST PLAY 2007), A Slow Air (Tron Theatre, Glasgow and Tricycle, London) and Good with People (Play, Pine and a Pint). Adaptations include Büchner’s Woyzeck (Edinburgh Festival), Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author (Young Vic), Chekhov’s Ivanov and Horvth’s Tales from the Vienna Woods (National Theatre), Schiller’s Mary Stuart (National Theatre of Scotland), and Brecht’s The Good Soul of Szechuan and Gogol’s The Government Inspector (Young Vic).
About Richard Baird: Richard Baird is an award-winning actor, director and producer. He founded Poor Players Theatre Company in 2001 which rebranded in 2014 as New Fortune Theatre Company. For Poor Players he directed 23 productions of Shakespeare's plays. Director credits: Henry V (Craig Noel best director winner), The Birthday Party and Les Liaisons Dangereuses (New Fortune Theatre Company); The Changeling (Oregon Shakespeare Festival Black Swan Series), Of Mice and Men (Craig Noel best director nominee), A Walk in the Woods, Amadeus (Craig Noel best director nominee) and Dancing Lessons for North Coast Repertory Theatre; Backyard Renaissance: An Experiment with an Airpump, The October Night of Johnny Zero (world premiere). Intrepid Theatre: Much Ado about Nothing; Diversionary Theatre: Edward II; Southwest Shakespeare Company: As You Like It and The Winter's Tale. Richard has performed in regional theatres across the country including: The Old Globe, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, North Coast Repertory Theatre, Portland Centre Stage, Arizona Theatre Company, San Diego Repertory Theatre, Santa Barbara Theatre Ensemble, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Southwest Shakespeare Company, Backyard Renaissance and many more. He received the Craig Noel award for Best Actor and Director for New Fortune Theatre's inaugural production of Henry V. He also received a Craig Noel for his performance as Angelo in Poor Player's Measure for Measure. San Diego Playbill award for The Merchant of Venice. Patte Best Actor award for Macbeth and The Merchant of Venice. AriZoni Best Actor Theatre Award for Cyrano de Bergerac and for Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew. In 2024 he will be directing Tartuffe for North Coast Repertory Theatre which will then transfer to the Laguna Playhouse.
