JSU Drama Presents "An Enemy of the People"

10/22/2017


Aaron Williams and Larry Mason star in "An Enemy of the People"

JSU Drama will raise the curtain on its 2017-2018 season on Oct. 27 with “An Enemy of the People.”

As a small Norwegian town prepares to open its healing springs, Dr. Thomas Stockmann discovers deadly pollution in the waters. But as the local government and citizens question what his findings will mean for the town, the doctor realizes that no good deed goes unpunished. How can he convince them that scientific fact can save the life of the town? This timely drama explores what happens when the truth collides with the will of the majority.

“An Enemy of the People” was written in 1882 by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen in response to the public backlash to his play, “Ghosts,” which scandalized Victorian society due to its veiled references to STDs. In the 1950s, it was adapted by famed playwright Arthur Miller.

Show dates are Oct. 27, 28, 30 at 7:30 p.m. and Oct. 29 at 2:30 p.m. Theatre guests will be welcomed to a newly updated lobby at JSU’s Ernest Stone Performing Arts Center, which features beautiful stone work, a flat screen television, and expanded restroom facilities. A state-of-the-art theatrical lighting system has also been installed in the theatre.

Tickets are $12 and available through the box office at 256-782-5648 or online.

Laura Lundy Wheale JSU Drama is also welcoming back alumna Laura Lundy Wheale, Young Alum of the Year, on Oct. 27 at 4 p.m. She will speak to current students about her career as a lawyer and actress, followed by a reception in her honor. The event is free and open to the public.

After graduating from JSU in 2010 with a BA in drama, Wheale went on to the Cumberland School of Law of Samford University in Birmingham, Ala., where she was named the Scholar of Merit in Shakespeare and Trial Advocacy and was a member of “Women in Law.” During the summer months in law school, she attended classes in Los Angeles at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute.

Wheale currently serves as an associate attorney at the Atlanta firm of Childers, Schlueter and Smith. In her free time, she auditions for film roles in Atlanta’s booming film industry. She has landed parts in “Sully” with Tom Hanks, Ang Lee’s “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk” and “A Larger Life,” co-starring Fred Thompson.