Western Stage puts timely slant on Ibsen

By Susan Goldbeck

  The Western Stage’-Hartnell College production of the Josefina Lopez ’adaptation of Ibsen’s Enemy of the People in Enemy of the Pueblo couldn’t be timelier.

  The play takes placed in a Mexican border town of Milagro which depends on the natural springs there to attract tourism.  This is the pueblo’s only source of livelihood. Threaded through the story is the timeless conflict between the economic interests of a community; how we pay our bills and the need to preserve the quality of life in the place where we live.  It also has the addition of fear caused by superstition not to mention “scientific” lies from monied interests from north of the border.

   The problem with the promotion of natural springs for the struggling dying pueblo’s economic benefit is that the springs are seriously contaminated and would poison anyone drinking the water there.

 This is discovered not by any scientist but by the pueblo’s curandera, Magda Del Rio, a second- sighted shaman character played very ably by Jovita Medina.

     Ms. Medina is the enemy of the pueblo. This is because she tells the truth, a truth nobody wants to hear. It doesn’t help that her source of truth about the poisonous springs is her dreams despite the fact that they have always proved reliable in the past.  She sees in her dreams all of the people in the pueblo falling dead as a result of drinking out of the polluted spring.

Magda’s brother, Pedro, is excellent as well in the role of the town’s Mayor He ignores her warnings about the poisoned springs because he knows that the very lifeblood of the town’s economy depends on his sister’s prophesy not being true.

 This play has a large cast for the small area of the stage which encroaches a bit into where the audience is seated. No matter however, it gives some urgency to what goes in before you.

I must give a shout -out to the stage decoration crew as the use of a tree with water coming out of it painted on the floor which was very effective. The set was designed for easy scene change which was done seamlessly throughout production.  In addition, the music heard throughout the play was well done and captured the mood of the scene as things became progressively more dire. 

  Enemy of the Pueblo is a thought-provoking play which is told in the context of the superstition and fears of a small community, which are magnified at a time of economic stress. This story is told from a south- of -the border point of view but which involves issues which are universal.

  I enjoyed the play, it runs at Hartnell College through October 19^th. .