ACT ONE
It is evening. DR STOCKMANNâs living room, simply but comfortably furnished. Two doors at right, the farther leading to the entrance hall, the nearer to the doctorâs study. At left, directly opposite the hall door, is a door leading to the familyâs living quarters. In the middle of the same wall stands the stove, downstage of which is a settee with a mirror hanging above it, and an oval table, covered with a cloth, in front of it. There is a lamp on the table, shaded and lit. Upstage, in the back wall, is an open door leading to the dining room, where a table set for dinner, with a lit lamp on it, can be seen. BILLING, his napkin tucked under his chin, is sitting at the dinner table, while MRS STOCKMANN, standing nearby, is passing him a large plate of roast beef. The other places at the table are empty, and the settings in some disorder, showing that a meal has recently been eaten.
MRS STOCKMANN. Well, if you will come an hour late, Mr Billing, you must expect cold food.
BILLING (eating). This is excellent â absolutely perfect.
MRS STOCKMANN. You know how particular my husband is about regular mealtimes.
BILLING. I donât mind in the least. Actually, I think food tastes better like this, when I can eat alone, in peace and quiet.
MRS STOCKMANN. Yes, well â as long as youâre enjoying it. (Turns towards the hall door, listening.) That must be HovstadâŠ
BILLING. Very likely.
The MAYOR, Peter Stockmann, enters, wearing an overcoat and his official cap, and carrying a walking stick.
MAYOR. A very good evening to you, Katrine.
MRS STOCKMANN (coming into the living room). Why, itâs you â good evening! How nice of you to stop by and see us.
MAYOR. Well, I happened to be passing, so⊠(Glances towards the dining room.) Ah, I see you have company.
MRS STOCKMANN (a little embarrassed). No, no â heâs just dropped in, we werenât expecting anybody. (Hurriedly.) Why donât you join him, and have a bite to eat?
MAYOR. Who, me? No, thank you. Good heavens, a cooked meal at night? Not with my digestion.
MRS STOCKMANN. Oh, just this once, surelyâŠ
MAYOR. No, honestly, itâs very kind of you, but Iâll stick to my tea and toast â itâs healthier in the long run, and a bit more economical too.
MRS STOCKMANN (smiles). Now, you mustnât run away with the idea that Tomas and I are terrible spendthrifts.
MAYOR. Not you, dear Katrine â nothing could be further from my mind. (Points to the DOCTORâs study.) So he isnât at home?
MRS STOCKMANN. No, heâs just gone out for an after-dinner stroll â and the boys are with him.
MAYOR. Hm, does that really do any good, I wonder? (Listens.) Thatâll be him now.
MRS STOCKMANN. No, I donât think so.
A knock at the door.
Come in!
HOVSTAD enters from the hallway.
Oh, itâs you, Mr HovstadâŠ
HOVSTAD. Yes, Iâm sorry, youâll have to excuse me, but I got held up at the printing shop. Good evening, Mr Mayor.
MAYOR (bowing a little stiffly). Mr Hovstad. A business call, no doubt?
HOVSTAD. In part, yes. Itâs about something thatâs to go into the paper.
MAYOR. I thought as much. I hear my brotherâs become an extremely prolific contributor to The Peopleâs Courier.
HOVSTAD. Yes, whenever he has a few home truths to tell, he does a piece for the Courier.
MRS STOCKMANN (to HOVSTAD). Are you sure you wouldnât like to⊠(Gesturing towards the dining room.)
MAYOR. Well, good heavens, Iâm not blaming him. After all, heâs simply addressing himself to the sort of reader most likely to be sympathetic to his views. Anyway, speaking personally, Iâve no reason to harbour any ill feeling towards your paper, Mr Hovstad.
HOVSTAD. No, I should hope not.
MAYOR. Taken by and large, thereâs an admirable spirit of tolerance in this town of ours â genuine public-spiritedness. And that derives from the fact that we have a great civic enterprise to unite us â an enterprise which concerns every right-minded citizen in equal measureâŠ
HOVSTAD. The Baths, yes.
MAYOR. Precisely. We have our splendid new municipal Baths. Mark my words, Mr Hovstad, those Baths are set to become the townâs very lifeblood. Without a doubt, sir.
MRS STOCKMANN. Yes, Tomas says that tooâŠ
MAYOR. You know, itâs quite extraordinary how things have improved this past year or two. People have money to spend, thereâs more life, more of a buzz about the town. Land and property values are going up day by day.
HOVSTAD. And unemploymentâs going down.
MAYOR. Yes, thatâs true. The burden of public assistance has been lessened too, much to the relief of property-owners, and thatâs likely to be reduced still further, if we have a decent summer this year â plenty of visitors, lots of invalids, to spread the word about our famous Baths.
HOVSTAD. And things are looking very promising in that regard, so Iâm told.
MAYOR. All the signs are favourable. Weâre getting more and more enquiries about accommodation and suchlike every day.
HOVSTAD. Well, then, the doctorâs article will be very much to the point.
MAYOR. Heâs written another piece?
HOVSTAD. Well, itâs something he wrote in winter, recommending the Baths, and giving an account of the superb health-giving qualities of the life here. But I held the article over at the time.
MAYOR. Ah, thereâd be one or two flaws in it, I suppose?
HOVSTAD. No, not at all. I just thought it was better to wait until the spring. This is when people start thinking about their summer holidays.
MAYOR. Thatâs right. That makes good sense, Mr Hovstad.
MRS STOCKMANN. Yes, Tomas will stick at nothing when it has to do with the Baths.
MAYOR. Well, he is one of the office-bearers.
HOVSTAD. Yes, indeed â in fact, it was the doctor who first came up with the idea.
MAYOR. Really? You think so? Yes, Iâve heard quite a few folk express that opinion. But I rather fancied I played a modest part in that undertaking myself.
MRS STOCKMANN. Yes, thatâs what Tomas always says.
HOVSTAD. Well, of course, Mr Mayor â no one would deny it. You set the whole business going as a practical concern, everybody knows that. All I meant was that the initial idea for the Baths came from the doctor.
MAYOR. Yes, my brotherâs never been short of ideas in his time â moreâs the pity. But when thereâs real work to be done, you need a different sort of man, Mr Hovstad. And to be quite frank, I wouldâve thought that in this house, at the very leastâŠ
MRS STOCKMANN. Peter, dear â pleaseâŠ
HOVSTAD. Mr Mayor, how could you imagineâŠ
MRS STOCKMANN. Go and get yourself something to eat, Mr Hovstad, while youâre waiting â Iâm sure my husband wonât be long.
HOVSTAD. Well, thanks â perhaps just a bite. (Goes into the dining room.)
MAYOR (in an undertone). Itâs funny, but these people from peasant stock never seem to have any tact.
MRS STOCKMANN. Youâre not letting that bother you, surely? Canât you and Tomas simply share the credit, like brothers?
MAYOR. Well, I daresay we should. But not everybody, it seems, is content to share.
MRS STOCKMANN. Oh, thatâs nonsense. You and Tomas are in complete agreement on these things. (Listens.) I think thatâs him coming now. (Goes to open the door leading into the hall.)
DR STOCKMANN (laughing and talking outside). Here you are, Katrine, another visitor for you! Isnât this a treat? Come in, Captain Horster, please do â just hang your coat up there, on that peg. Oh, youâre not wearing an overcoat, I see. Would you believe it, Katrine, I ran into him in the street, and had the devil of a job persuading him to come.
CAPTAIN HORSTER enters, and greets MRS STOCKMANN.
(In the doorway.) In you go, my lads. Theyâre absolutely starving. Now, come along, Captain Horster â you must have a nice bit of roast beefâŠ
He propels HORSTER towards the dining room, and the boys, EILIF and MORTEN, follow him in.
MRS STOCKMANN. But, Tomas â donât you seeâŠ?
DR STOCKMANN (turning in the doorway). Oh, itâs you, Peter! (Goes over to shake his hand.) Well, now, this is a real treat.
MAYOR. Unfortunately, I have to be going in a minuteâŠ
DR STOCKMANN. Oh, nonsense! Thereâs some hot toddy coming up soon. Katrine, you havenât forgotten the toddy, have you?
MRS STOCKMANN. Indeed, no. The waterâs already boiling. (Goes into the kitchen.)
MAYOR. Toddy as well?
DR STOCKMANN. Yes, sit down, do, and weâll enjoy it in comfort.
MAYOR. Thanks, but I donât ...