Public Enemy

Three generations of a family argue over current events, finances, and culture, with everyone looking to blame someone else for society’s ills in this satirical examination of how judgment can both divide and unite people.

Elizabeth, the matriarch, has invited her children and grandchildren over for dinner. Instead of a nice family meal, it quickly slides into the adults arguing in the dining room and the kids fighting in the living room. Rapid-fire dialogue fuses and overlaps, but no one listens to each other. A blistering take on the family drama, Public Enemy asks, who’s really responsible for all our suffering?

• First produced by le Centre du Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui and l’Activité at Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui, Montréal, in February 2015
• Public Enemy was supposed to have its English premiere at Canadian Stage in 2020, but has been pushed back due to the pandemic.