“Theatre is not political action. Political action happens in the streets.” This is how the German director Thomas Ostermeier addressed the audience in a recent conversation with Branden Jacobs-Jenkins at the Brooklyn Academy of Arts. All theatre can do is make us realize the “lies we tell ourselves.” Thomas Ostermeier made a name for himself staging the socially conscious dramas of Sarah Kane and Mark Ravenhill. After becoming the artistic director of Berlin's Schaubühne, Ostermeier turned to Henrik Ibsen because he thought that Ibsen's bourgeois world would appeal to the patrons of the Schaubühne: “Characters in Ibsen constantly worry about money.” Perhaps, this is also the reason behind Ostermeier's desire to bring his production of Ibsen'sAn Enemy of the People,adapted into English by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, to the patrons of Broadway in the fall of 2018. It's a Trojan Horse. Get the haves into the theatre and make them see their own complicity in perpetuating the injustices of capitalism. Ostermeier's version ofAn Enemy of the Peoplebreaks the fourth wall during the play's town hall meeting and invites the audience to share their thoughts about capitalism and democracy. Ultimately, this audience participation reveals the anxiety that theatre might simply be a distraction.

中文翻译：

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看不见的舞台手；或者，易卜生的资本剧院

“戏剧不是政治行动。政治行动发生在街头。” 这就是德国导演托马斯·奥斯特迈尔最近在布鲁克林艺术学院与布兰登·雅各布斯-詹金斯的一次对话中向观众发表的讲话。戏剧所能做的就是让我们意识到“我们告诉自己的谎言”。托马斯·奥斯特迈尔（Thomas Ostermeier）因出演莎拉·凯恩（Sarah Kane）和马克·拉文希尔（Mark Ravenhill）的社会意识剧而出名。成为柏林绍宾剧院的艺术总监后，奥斯特迈尔转向亨利克·易卜生，因为他认为易卜生的资产阶级世界会吸引绍宾宫的赞助人：“易卜生的人物总是担心钱。” 或许，这也是奥斯特迈尔渴望将自己制作的易卜生作品带入的原因。人民公敌，布兰登·雅各布斯-詹金斯（Branden Jacobs-Jenkins）改编成英语，于 2018 年秋季向百老汇的赞助人介绍。这是一个特洛伊木马。让富人进入剧院，让他们看到自己在延续资本主义不公正现象方面的同谋。奥斯特迈尔的版本人民公敌在该剧的市政厅会议期间打破第四面墙，邀请观众分享他们对资本主义和民主的看法。最终，这种观众的参与揭示了剧院可能只是分散注意力的焦虑。