Whistleblower! Branden Jacobs-Jenkins to Adapt German AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE for Broadway

Director Thomas Ostermeier's critically lauded Schaubühne production of AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE by Henrik Ibsen will be presented on Broadway in the 2017-2018 season at a theater to be announced.

The acclaimed version by Florian Borchmeyer & Thomas Ostermeier will have a new English adaptation by MacArthur "Genius" Fellow Branden Jacobs-Jenkins.

The world premiere of AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE was at the internationally renowned Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz in Berlin, followed by critically acclaimed engagements around the world including Avignon, Brooklyn Academy Of Music (BAM), Buenos Aires, Copenhagen, Istanbul, London's Barbican Centre, Melbourne, Oslo, Paris, Seoul and Venice.

Thomas Ostermeier has been resident director and member of the Artistic Direction of the Schaubühne since 1999. He has been appointed Officier des Arts et des Lettres by the French ministry of culture, and promoted to the degree of Commandeur in 2015. Ostermeier received the Golden Lion of the Venice Biennale for the entirety of his work in 2011. Elisabeth Vincentelli of the New York Times said "Ostermeier is a genius at rejuvenating plays," and Jason Farago of the New Republic called Ostermeier "the most important theater director of his generation." Joseph Pearson of Newsweek said Ostermeier is one of "Germany's most important stage director. His plays are regulars at major theaters across the world, where audiences appreciate his mastery of dramas."

Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is a MacArthur "Genius" Fellow, a Pulitzer Prize-finalist and a recipient of Yale's Windham-Campbell Prize for Drama. Ben Brantley of the New York Times proclaims playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins as "one of the most exciting young dramatists working today," and counts him among "this country's most original and illuminating writers."

AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE - A battle rages in the city. The drinking water is contaminated but - never mind the opinion of a local expert - there's a tourism industry to protect. Factions form: to tell or not to tell? Studded with contemporary music references, Ostermeier's production brings Ibsen's dark satire to a boil - and, with help from the people, a solitary whistleblower to his knees.

Casting and the design team will be announced shortly.

AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE is produced by David Binder.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Henrik Ibsen (Playwright, 1828-1906). In addition to An Enemy of the People, his plays include Hedda Gabler, A Doll's House, Ghosts, The Lady From the Sea, Peer Gynt, Pillars of Society, The Wild Duck, Rosmersholm, The Master Builder, Little Eyolf, John Gabriel Borkman andWhen We Dead Awaken.

THOMAS OSTERMEIER (Director/Adaptor) was born in 1968 in Soltau, Germany, and spent his youth in Landshut. From 1992 to 1996 he studied directing at the Hochschule für Schauspielkunst Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Art Berlin. In 1990-91 he worked as an actor in Einar Schleef's Faust project at the Hochschule der Künste, Berlin. In 1993-94 he was assistant director and actor with Manfred Karge in Weimar and at the Berliner Ensemble. In 1995 he directed Die Unbekannte by Alexander Blok in accordance with Meyerhold's system of biomechanics. In 1996 he directed Recherche Faust/Artaud at the bat-Studiotheater Berlin. From 1996-99 Ostermeier was Artistic Director of the Baracke at the Deutsches Theater, Berlin. Productions there included Fat Men in Skirts by Nicky Silver (1996), Knives in Hens by David Harrower (1997 awarded with Friedrich-Luft Prize), Brecht's Mann ist Mann (1997), Suzuki by Alexej Schipenko (1997), Shopping and f-ing by Mark Ravenhill (1998),Below the Belt by Richard Dresser (1998), and The Blue Bird by Maeterlinck (1999). In 1998 the Baracke was nominated Theatre of the Year. In 1998 and 1999 Ostermeier directed Disco Pigs by Enda Walsh and Fire Face by Marius von Mayenburg at the Schauspielhaus Hamburg. His final production at the Baracke was Suzuki II by Alexej Schipenko. Since September 1999, Ostermeier has been resident director and member of the Artistic Direction of the Schaubühne. He has also directed several productions at the Münchner Kammerspiele: 2002 Der starke Stamm by Marieluise Fleisser, 2005 Vor Sonnenaufgang by Gerhart Hauptmann, 2007 Die Ehe der Maria Braun by Rainer Werner Fassbinder (invited to the Theatertreffen 2008) and 2009 Susn by Herbert Achternbusch, at the Edinburgh Festival: The Girl on the Sofa by Jon Fosse, 2002 (awarded with the Herald Angel Award) and at the Burgtheater in Vienna: The Master Builder by Henrik Ibsen, 2004. In November 2004 Ostermeier was appointed Artiste Associé for the Festival d'Avignon by the new artistic director of the festival, Vincent Baudriller, and has been presenting shows at the Festival almost every year since then. Invitations to the Theatertreffen Berlin with Knives of Hens (1997), Shopping and f-ing (1998), Nora (2003), Hedda Gabler (2006) and Die Ehe der Maria Braun (2008). Furthermore, in 2003 Nora has been awarded the Nestroy Prize as well as the Politika Prize during the theatre festival in Belgrade BITEF. Hedda Gabler received in 2006 the audience award of the Theater-gemeinde Berlin, his Little Foxes was awarded the same prize in 2015. His production John Gabriel Borkman and Hamlet have been awarded with international prizes as best productions in the season 2008/2009: John Gabriel Borkman with the Grand Prix de la Critique of France (April 2009) and Hamlet with the Barcelona Critics Prize (September 2009). Thomas Ostermeier's production The Cut received the critic´s prize at the international theatre festival KONTAKT in Torun (Poland) in Mai 2010. For Measure for Measure he received the Friedrich-Luft-Prize for the Best Theatre Performance in Berlin in 2011. In Chile Hamlet has been awarded with the critic's prize as Best International Production 2011, in Turkey with the honor award by the 18th Istanbul Theatre Festival 2012 and in Teheran as best direction at the FADJR International Theatre Festival in 2016. In 2009 Thomas Ostermeier has been appointed Officier des Arts et des Lettres by the French ministry of culture, and promoted to the degree of Commandeur in 2015. For his contributions to the European theatre, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Arts degree from the University of Kent in 2016. In May 2010 Thomas Ostermeier has been announced as German president of the Deutsch-Französischer Kulturrat (DKFR), German-French Council of Culture. Thomas Ostermeier received the Golden Lion of the Venice Biennale for the entirety of his work in 2011.

His latest productions at the Schaubühne are An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen (2012), Death in Venice/Kindertotenlieder after Thomas Mann/Gustav Mahler (2013), The Little Foxes by Lillian Hellman (2014) and Richard III by William Shakespeare (2015). In May 2015, he directed the world premiere of Yasmina Reza's new play, Bella Figura. In December 2016, he directed Professor Bernhardi by Arthur Schnitzler.

His productions are touring worldwide to places like Adelaide, Athens, Avignon, Barcelona, Belgrade, Bordeaux, Brussels, Buenos Aires, Bucharest, Caracas, Chennai, Copenhagen, Delhi, Dublin, Hong Kong, Kolkata, Krakow, Lisbon, Ljubljana, London, Madrid, Marseille, Melbourne, Moscow, Naples, New York, Novi Sad, Omsk, Oslo, Ottawa, Paris, Prague, Québec, Rennes, Reims, Santiago de Chile, Sarajevo, Seoul, Sydney, Taipei, Tampere, Tel Aviv, Tokyo, Venice, Vienna and Zagreb.

For a list of production credits at the Schaubühne, click here.

FLORIAN BORCHMEYER (Adaptor) was born in 1974 in Wasserburg am Inn, Germany, and studied literature in Berlin, Havana, and Paris. In 2006, he received a doctorate in philosophy with a graduate thesis about the chronicle of the discovery of America, and won the Bayerische Filmpreis for the documentary movie Habana - Arte nuevo de hacer ruinas. As a filmmaker and literature critic he works for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and as an author for television cultural magazines such as aspekte, Kulturzeit, and Foyer. He curates the international program at Filmfest Munich. He has been dramaturg at the Schaubühne since 2011. He worked together with Thomas Ostermeier on several plays such as and Professor Bernhardi.

Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (New English Adaptation). Credits: Everybody (Signature Theatre), War (LCT3/Lincoln Center Theater), Gloria(Vineyard Theatre; Pulitzer Prize-finalist), Appropriate (Signature Theatre; Obie Award), An Octoroon (Soho Rep; Obie Award) and Neighbors(The Public Theater). He is a Residency Five playwright at Signature Theatre and under commissions from LCT3/Lincoln Center Theater, MTC/Sloan, and the Steppenwolf Theatre Company. His recent honors include the MacArthur Fellowship, the Windham-Campbell Prize for Drama, the Benjamin Danks Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation Theatre Award, the Steinberg Playwriting Award, and the Tennessee Williams Award. He currently teaches in the Hunter College Playwriting MFA Program, where he is a Master-Artist-in-Residence.