Sometimes you have the right play meet the right moment. Two years ago when Producing Artistic Director Mike Sablone was selecting Enemy of the People to be the anchor on the backend of The Warehouse Theatre’s current season, he didn’t realize just how right he was going to be.
This classic story examines themes that are readily present in our lives today. So present that a Broadway and a West End production were produced in the last year further proving how right Mike was and how relevant this play is in 2025.
In Henrik Ibsen’s Enemy of the People, a doctor determines that the beloved tourist attraction in his hometown is actually causing people to fall ill. In an effort to save his fellow townspeople and visitors from calamity, he seeks to bring this problem to light in an attempt to remedy it. Expecting to be thanked for his efforts, his world soon tilts sideways as the entire city, including his sister the mayor, revolts against him.
While written in the 1880s, Ibsen’s piercing but often humorous look at how much the truth is worth will ring familiar to audiences in the Upstate just as it has around the globe for more than a century.
“This is a play about community, and I’m excited to finish this season with a fresh new take on Ibsen’s timeless classic,” said Producing Artistic Director Mike Sablone. “I’m so excited to have Matthew Earnest back directing and adapting for us, and he’s assembled a fantastic cast to tell this theatrical, engaging story that seems ripped from the headlines.”
The cast features familiar Warehouse artists:
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Evan Harris (SHAKESPEARE ABRIDGED)
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Tinasha LaRayé (JANE ANGER, ASSASSINS)
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Matt Reece (THE LEHMAN TRILOGY, THE CRUCIBLE)
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Maddie Tisdel (WITCH, THE WOLVES)
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Anne Kelly Tromsness (NATIVE GARDENS, ANGELS IN AMERICA)
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Jayce T. Tromsness (THE 25th…SPELLING BEE, WITCH)
The show also features Warehouse newcomers: Thom Babbes, Matthew Burke, and Sidney Reyes.
This production at The Warehouse Theatre is helmed by Matthew Earnest, marking his anticipated return to The Warehouse Theatre after 9 seasons. Earnest last helmed LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES for the main stage, but also counts Ibsen’s A DOLL’S HOUSE, Chekhov’s THE SEAGULL, and Shakespeare’s JULIUS CAESAR among his other work for The Warehouse.
He’s joined on the creative team by:
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Will Bezek (Scenic & Costumes – LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES)
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Alicia Varcoe (Lights – THE LEHMAN TRILOGY, PRIDE & PREJUDICE)
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Sarah Schaible (Sound – MISERY)
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Austin Reece Taylor (Props – HARRY CLARKE)
Important Dates and Details:
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Pay What I Can Sunday: June 1st at 3:00pm (tickets sold first come, first serve starting at 2:15pm)
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Talk Back: After the second matinee, June 7th
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Blue Star Theatre discounts: Available for veterans and active military throughout the run
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Show Run: May 30th – June 15th, 2025
More information, including tickets, can be found at WarehouseTheatre.com.
Written by The Warehouse Theatre.