Randall Duk Kim and Anne Occhiogrosso headline Centenary Stage Company’s production of Henrik Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People, February 15 through March 3 in the Sitnik Theatre of the Lackland Performing Arts Center in Hackettstown.

Adapted by John Alan Wyatt and directed by Anne Occhiogrosso, the production will feature Randall Duk Kim as Doctor Thomas Stockmann, supported by an acting company of professional and local talent from the tri-state area and Centenary University. The full-scale production marks the culmination of the 2018 Gates Ferry Lecture Series: “What is Truth?”

With ripped-from-the-headlines relevance, this high-intensity drama is a powerful investigation of ambition, integrity and the price we pay for truth. Originally published in 1882, An Enemy of the People concerns the actions of Doctor Thomas Stockmann, a medical officer charged with inspecting the public baths on which the prosperity of his native town depends. He finds the water to be contaminated. When he refuses to be silenced, he is declared an enemy of the people.

“I first directed Enemy 30 years ago and Randall played Dr. Stockmann,” Occhiogrosso noted.  “Simply put, I love the challenge of bringing Ibsen to life on the stage again and Randall is ecstatic to be able to invite the unpredictable and lively Dr. Stockmann into his imagination once more. Ibsen’s voice is so needed today as we struggle with environmental crisis, women’s rights, economic inequality, political division and our very ideas of truth and justice.”

Henrik Johan Ibsen (1828 –1906) was a Norwegian playwright, theatre director and poet. As one of the founders of Modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as “the father of realism” and one of the most influential playwrights of his time.

As creators of the Centenary Stage Company series, “Great Authors Out Loud,” Kim and Occhiogrosso have offered readings from authors Edgar Alan Poe, Mark Twain, Dorothy Parker and James Thurber and classical theatre playwrights William Shakespeare, Sophocles, Moliere, Chekhov and Ibsen, which has drawn a loyal and enthusiastic following since 2012.  In addition to the readings, they have taught a Shakespeare Intensive Course at Centenary University where students study one play over a thirteen-week period.

An Enemy of the People runs February 15 through March 3 in the Sitnik Theatre of the Lackland Performing Arts Center. Performances are Fridays, February 15, 22 and March 1 at 8 p.m.; Saturdays, February 16, 23 and March 2 at 8 p.m.; Sundays, February 17, 24 and March 3 at 2 p.m.; Thursdays, February 21 and 28 at 7:30 p.m.; and Wednesdays, February 20 and 27 at 2 p.m. A preview performance will be held Friday, February 15 at 2 p.m. Tickets start at $25 per adult.

For more information or to purchase tickets, please visit centenarystageco.org or call the Centenary Stage Company box office at (908) 979–0900.

The box office is open Monday through Friday from 1–5 p.m. and two hours prior to every scheduled performance. The box office is located in the Lackland Performing Arts Center at 715 Grand Ave. Hackettstown, N.J., on the campus of Centenary University.