At the Edinburgh International Festival, acclaimed Brazilian actor and filmmaker Wagner Moura is taking center stage in A Trial — after An Enemy of the People, a modern-day sequel to Henrik Ibsen’s 1882 classic. Directed by fellow Brazilian artist Christiane Jatahy, the production plunges audiences into the heart of contemporary political polarization, dragging themes of authoritarianism, misinformation, and public judgment straight into a makeshift courtroom where the spectators themselves serve as the jury.
For Moura, who is described by eif.co.uk as a Golden Globe-winning actor known for Narcos, the production is far more than a theatrical exercise. It is a direct reckoning with recent history. Speaking on the international stage, the actor drew a line between Brazil’s military rule and the leadership of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is currently imprisoned for an attempted coup d’état.
The Shadow of Brazilian Dictatorship and Bolsonaro’s Fall
To understand the urgency driving Jatahy’s production, one must look at the historical wounds in Brazil. Brazil endured a military dictatorship from 1964 to 1985. Moura draws parallels between that period and the leadership of Bolsonaro.
“We in Brazil, we know what a dictatorship is. We know how harmful that is, how horrible that is, how bad that is,” Moura stated, anchoring his critique in the lived generational trauma of the Brazilian people. That trauma crystallized in recent years during Bolsonaro’s presidency, culminating in events that landed the former leader behind bars for plotting a coup.
Jatahy’s play captures this cultural anxiety, translating Ibsen’s 19th-century text into a contemporary Brazilian context. In Ibsen’s original masterpiece, protagonist Thomas Stockmann faces public shame and exile after trying to expose a water pollution scandal in his hometown. In Jatahy’s revision, Stockmann—portrayed by Moura—finds himself thrust into a modern public tribunal where traditional judicial safeguards are stripped away. Lawyers and judges vanish from the courtroom, leaving the defendant’s fate entirely in the hands of an unpredictable, participatory audience jury.
Interactive Theater and the Mechanics of Public Judgment
What makes A Trial — after An Enemy of the People a theatrical event is its structural design. Rather than watching passively from the dark, spectators become active participants in the machinery of state judgment. Each night during the festival run, 11 individuals who register before the performance are randomly selected to serve as the jury, wielding the power to decide whether Moura’s Stockmann is innocent or truly an “enemy of the people.”
This staging—developed as a special collaboration between the Edinburgh International Festival, the Festival d’Avignon, and the Holland Festival—deliberately blurs the boundaries between dramatic fiction and political reality. By integrating live film footage with real-time audience participation, Jatahy exposes how easily public opinion can be manipulated, weaponized, and steered toward authoritarian ends.
The production also benefits from institutional backing, receiving support from the Edinburgh International Festival Endowment Fund alongside additional backing from the Consulate General of Brazil in Edinburgh and the Instituto Guimarães Rosa.
Art as Resistance in an Age of Misinformation
The Edinburgh production proves that the questions raised by Ibsen more than a century ago remain urgent today.
How do you think interactive theater influences public perception of real-world political trials? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
