"An Enemy of the People" is a play of subtle intellectual strands and bold characterizations. "It is above all, a vehicle for the fiery ideas of Ibeca, and it is through the often-confused maze of social theory that his personalities emerge and gain strength. The Harvard Theatre Group has succeeded perfectly in fusing characters to their philosophies, and the result is a dynamic production which mounts in intensity to a thrilling climax at the end of the second act.

Arthur Miller's adaptation of the play is crisp and idiomatic; more important, it rescues Ibsen from the traditional dullness of literal translations. Miller has bent over backwards to play up the timely problem of the individual's rights against the majority in a time of crisis, but in so doing he has been forced to underscore another problem: the inviolability of objective truth. The main thesis of the play is that a scientist may and must stand firm against the animalism and stupidity of mob opinion; when the masses proclaim him an enemy of the people for his adherence to the facts, he realizes that the inherent fallacy of democracy lies in the selfishness of the people.

The principals of "An Enemy of the People" are uniformly excellent Michael Mabry, as the materialistic mayor of a town which sees its chief means of financial support being knocked from under it, is at once crafty and dignified. Both female leads, Joanna Brown and Connaught O'Connell, are self-composed and extremely capable as the sympathetic wife and daughter of the scientist. The doctor himself, as played by Donald Stewart, is truly an outstanding performance. He transfers himself so completely into the part, he believes so implicitly in his ideals, that it is difficult not to regard the play as a personal tragedy rather than as one of false ideologies.

Credit for a most perceptive job of directing must go to Harold Stone, who has created a tense drama of character out of what could have been a mere development of philosophies. Technically, he was aided by the naturalistic and effective settings of Jacek von Henneberg.