''An Enemy of the People'' is a 1958 Australian television play starring James Condon. It was based on the 1882 play by

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. 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 playw ...

and was updated to a contemporary Australian setting. It was broadcast live.

Plot

A new resort is about to open in the Queensland coastal town of Jacaranda. A central feature of the resort is the fact the area has mineral waters which are beneficial to people's health. Dr Stockman discovers that a local tannery is poisoning the water. This would be expensive to fix so the townspeople are opposed to him, including the mayor (his brother), the local newspaper editor and the owner of the tannery. Pressure is put on his wife Kate and daughter Jan. Jan resigns from her teaching post.

Cast

* James Condon as Dr. Stockman *Eleanor Elliott as Jan Stockman * Aileen Britton as Kate Stockman *

Moray Powell Moray () gd, Moireibh or ') is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with a coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland. Between 1975 ...

*Lou Vernon

Production

George F. Kerr George F. Kerr (15 April 1918 – 29 October 1996) was an English writer best known for his work in TV. He worked for eight years in British TV as a writer and script editor. He moved to Australia in 1957 and wrote several early TV dramas as well ...

was an English writer who had moved to Australia. He was asked to adapt the play to Australia and decided to set it in Queensland. Morley had done a number of Ibsen adaptations in England on TV. It was broadcast in a series of "live" dramas on Sunday night on ABV-2 Melbourne. In order, they were ''

The Governess ''The Governess'' is a 1998 British period drama film written and directed by Sandra Goldbacher. The screenplay focuses on a young Jewish woman of Sephardic background, who reinvents herself as a gentile governess when she is forced to find w ...

'', '' The Last Call'', '' The Rose without a Thorn'', '' The Lark'', '' Citizen of Westminster'', and ''Enemy of the People'' (the last of "the season"). Desmonde Dowling was the designer.

Reception

''Filmink''. reviewing the script, felt Kerr did not really properly adapt the text to Australia.

References

External links

*
''An Enemy of the People''
at

AustLit AustLit: The Australian Literature Resource (also known as AustLit: Australian Literature Gateway; and AustLit: The Resource for Australian Literature), usually referred to simply as AustLit, is an internet-based, non-profit collaboration betwee ...