The play "People's Enemy" by Norwegian author Henrik Ibsen, directed by Nina Nikolic, and within the project "Roads of Heroes", puts the fight for truth and justice in the foreground.

Loud applause at the premiere of a play is almost a common occurrence. It's an applause that lasts for a few minutes. But whether the play really hit the audience's nerve can be found out from another phenomenon. If the audience stays in the theater for a long time after the performance and wants to talk to the actors who performed on stage, it is a sign that they really liked it. If the audience leaves the theater quickly, it may mean that the applause was long, but the memory of that play will be short.

In the case of the premiere of "People's Enemy" at the Macedonian National Theater, the applause was long and the audience stayed up late at night in the theater. The reasons for such a reaction are multifaceted.

In the first place is the selection of Ibsen's text, which, although written 140 years ago, has a theme that is still relevant today. The beginnings of liberal capitalism and the race to make a profit versus caring for the health of the citizens of the then and present society are almost the same. We hear about putting personal interests before the interests of the community almost every day. The struggle for nature protection is already becoming the alphabet of modern living. The ignorant attitude of the government, the clientelism, the "independent media", the pressures for the individual to submit to the will of the majority are present in Ibsen's drama, but also in modern society.

Here appears the second layer that makes this play attractive, and that is the fantastic casting in which 11 actors are involved and where the pivotal character of the man who fights for truth and justice is played by Nikola Ristanovski. Confident, with strong will, perseverance and commitment to science and the profession, Ristanovski fantastically captures the character of Dr. Thomas Stockman, who instead of becoming a hero who wants to save the community from the threat that threatens becomes a "people's enemy" due to the personal interests of the majority in the community.

The dramatic conflict begins between two brothers and develops between the community and the whole family of Dr. Stockman, who as an individual who insists on following the path of truth and justice becomes dangerous to the interests of the community.

In the realization of the play, the director Nikolic includes an international artistic team, which gives its professional maximum in terms of the overall design of the play. The playwright Tamara Barachkov gives an accurate and precise direction of the action, the translation of the text by Maja Trajanovska Ivanovska is current and contemporary, the scenography of Vishnja Vujovic does not burden the stage and gives an opportunity for expression of the actors, the costumes of Ivana Karanfilovska are fashionable Chris Jaeger's light at times creates an atmosphere of tension, but also gives dynamism to the ambience, and the music of George Dusos is used to the right extent.

Zvezdana Angelovska, Darja Rizova, the young Jana Veljanovska and Martin Gjorgoski, the little Ana Arsovska, as well as the experienced Petre Arsovski, Blagoj Veselinov, Nino Levi, Saska Dimovski contribute to the development of the story from scene to scene.

The play is worth watching, above all, because of the hope it gives that there are progressive individuals who want to push society forward, even though the community labels them "enemies of the people." And it is always worth hoping for progress.

(The text was published in "Cultural Press" No. 128, in the print edition of the newspaper "Free Press" on May 14-15, 2022)