WHY IS THE KZfaq BACKGROUNG MUSIC SO LOUD

TLDR: I was in "An Enemy of the People" in high school opposite my own brother and this analysis of shades of grey is exactly how I see the play. One of my first "big" onstage roles was as Peter Stockmann in our high school production of "An Enemy of the People". I'm quite sure that our theater director picked this show because my older brother was also a relative thespian (we've both joined the Thespian Society), but having him as Thomas Stockmann would make an interesting dynamic. This is also the closest I've ever come to playing an outright villain (I also played Casca in our version of "Julius Caesar", which I consider a trainwreck). But what I loved about the play was that by the end, everyone who had been sympathetic towards Thomas and wanting to see him win out in the end, they all kind of feel like maybe he might be wrong. Maybe it *was* just one negative test, maybe he *hadn't* collected sufficient data, maybe he *could* actually be wrong. Maybe after everything he'd done and fought for, he might be wrong. We also excised a fair bit of the show since it was a high school production, but the major themes still came through. I especially remember one scene where Peter challenges Thomas' findings and Thomas moves towards Peter as if to confront him and his wife steps between them. One night when we were doing the show Thomas (my brother) actually got close enough to touch me and I genuinely thought he was going to beat the living hell out of me and I almost lost my place. Our mom always thought that some personal issues might come out during the performance ("The water's tainted, Peter!" "Oh yeah, well, Mom always liked you best!") but she was just glad we didn't actually ever kill each other.

I was in a production of this many years ago in college, and just found it here on KZfaq! Really enjoyed this analysis. But also, I love how you look like you constantly are trying not to let your smile just get out of control. It's very cute! And then there's the accent 🥰 ~Trav

This is really smart, helpful and unpretentious. I loved it. Very cool, Tom.

Excellent! Very succinct, clear and enlightening - so no need to embellish it with a silly, overloud music that only distracts from your words! Btw, another small point - it may have been a slip, but you confused Norwegian Henrik with Heinrich, the German version of the name. Otherwise, top notch - thank you.

Excellent delivery! Cery clear, articulate, and good pace. Bring down music vol a touch (and vary). Perhaps open with an overview of the video's contents (thread of key ideas). Perfect conceptual level. Use of paper effect fantastic in overview of dialectics. Keep it up! You're great!

Yo, i thought this was the guy who played Ramsay Bolton at first, holy cow lmao

Great analysis. Lots of interesting points.

thanks for giving a glimpse

Thank you, it was very instructing, I really liked your analysis :)

Enjoyed this. Am researching Ibsen, Shaw, Chekhov for a lecture I'm giving, MASTERS OF NATURALISM. I trod well worn paths here I know but the new twist is that it will be an ILLUSTRATED lecture . I.e. actual scenes will be acted out by professionals including myself.Look forward to seeing your other works too.

Interesting. I’m thinking of going to see the Matt Smith staring production of Enemy of the People next week. Have you seen it?

Very nice video. I teach English as a foreign language in France and I am teaching English to one of my students using this play. I am reading it for the first time with my student so it is all new to me too. So far I can see similarities between this story and Jaws. I'm sure Dr Stockmann is the equivalent to Chief Brody. But I am yet to read the rest

Which recording of the play did you use at the 20 second mark? I'm looking for a good quality version for my class.

Love your videos. I watched it all the times👏🖒

Excellent!

I'm not very familiar with Brecht, but I adore Ibsen and his plays. What three plays of Brecht's would you recommend?

Thanks, Tom! This is great!

Tom -- In light of this commentary, you might enjoy Lucas Hnath's Dolls House 2, set 15 years later, when Nora returns. Hnath has done an excellent job exploring the "problem" of marriage & independence of women without necessarily coming to a resolution. Plus, like Enemy, it resonates today as much as Dolls House did at its time.

Thanks for great content. Not sure about the background music though.

This play is part of Ibsen's realistic / naturalist phase, right? The symbolist phase only begins with The Wild Duck, or am I wrong?

thanks for this - its great but might be a bit hard for younger students of drama and theatre

Don't think this criticism got the point. Ibsen had an existentialist background, due to his readings of Kierkegaard. The whole point of Kierkegaard's thought is to give shape to men's spirit, allowing one to be free, not being only a sheep of the flock. Therefore Ibsen wrote about people pushed to the limits of their social condition to force them to ask: 'now, without the whole social parafernalia, what's left?' Focusing on the social aspect is useful, but without this deeper layer it leads people to the common mistake of considering 'The doll's house' a feminist play.

Have you ever thought about talking about Emperor and Galilean?

Music too loud, goodbye.

The criticism of Ibsen not taking up the problem of the poor in 'An Enemy of the People" is a little unfair. The play is about the leaders of the village, the professionals, the elected officials, and the disgruntled older people who think they have been left behind.

thesis-antithesis-synthesis is not a model of the Hegelian dialectic. It comes from the classics.

Bro someone dumb this down for me please

If you're going to keep up that fake British accent, you need to work on the word "neither".

Why the awful music?