Amid a politically charged atmosphere, UTD Theatre’s timely performance of “Karen Springs” ineffectively juggles modern debates over governance with a modest dose of absurdist comedy.
Director and writer Maiza Hixson, currently a visiting assistant professor at UTD, created “Karen Springs” as an adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s 1882 classic play “An Enemy of the People,” placing the original’s political themes of truth-seeking and competing interests into a contemporary lens. The play tells the story of a doctor who discovers a deadly bacterial infection within the eponymous Karen Springs and how he desperately tries to inform an increasingly hostile populace. Opening night for “Karen Springs” was Feb. 24 and its final showing took place on March 1.
The piece is the result of a thorough creative process, in which Hixson drew on personal experiences to comment on modern political discourse. A daughter to a water-based environmental advocate herself, Hixson broached a conversation regarding governmental action grounded in solutions.
“It seeks to create more dialogue than discourse or polarization,” Hixson said. “I think that the play gives people the tools they need to understand people’s motivations.”
The performance draws stark parallels to real-world water contamination issues, such as those Texas faces. State water systems have failed to reach EPA guidelines concerning forever chemicals with dozens of towns exceeding new federal limits, while Johnson County, just one hour south of UTD, is facing an official state of disaster because of water contamination. Hixson used these events as inspiration to address the people behind such threats.
The play takes a more indirect approach to addressing these issues by criticizing real-world actors as egotistical and incorrect in their own unique ways through its cast of characters. Environmental activist Dr. Richards carries a disregard for economic interests; the town’s matriarch Karen underscores a lack of long-term concern; and its mayor disregards any democratic interests of the town. The show forces audiences to reckon with their own preconceived notions over political ideology, making the audience unexpected participants in the performance’s debates.
The cast consists of, but is not limited to, an ultra-vegan doctor, a money-hungry cattle killer, social media influencers, a consistently outraged wife, a mob of upset citizens and the anti-marijuana “Please Say No” Society. By using this diverse array of political ideologies, the show demonstrates how all forms of political life are slightly flawed.
In reference to his role as Dr. Richards, ATEC junior Kyle Hurst emphasized the character’s desire to make a difference, believing that public opinion in Karen Springs would be on his side. VPAS senior Lillian Eakle, who plays wife Allie Richards, has a slightly different stance.
“He’s saying, ‘We have to shut the spas down,’ but he goes about it in a way that is very extreme and hurts everybody in the process,” Eakle said. “What would be the correct thing to do in this situation?”
Unfortunately, the show struggles to effectively present the interesting theoretical discussions in the script on the stage. Several basic issues presented themselves during performances. Memorization of lines was a repeated problem for scenes, resulting in a complete halt in momentum, followed by a series of nervous glances as actors became unsure about who should speak next. A lack of adequate projection or cheating out left some actors’ lines landing in the set instead of in audiences’ ears. Habitual swaying created stage pictures more akin to flowing seaweed than to grounded, upset characters vying for power. These concerns made it hard to focus on the thematic takeaways of the play itself.
As a representation of the real world, it should be no surprise that the play retains some less-than-perfect moments, which sometimes contributed to an unintentionally ingenuine show without much suspension of disbelief. Effects projected above and around actors felt confusing at best and unprofessional at worst, distracting from tense scenes with strange, detached graphics. At one point, the show stopped an engaging scene to project a QR code leading to a poll without any clear direction or long-term purpose, distracting from the plot by creating a moment many took as a chance to check their phone rather than showing audiences, presumably, a meaningful deconstruction of their own thoughts.
Even then, the performance is an interesting demonstration of political discourse in a comedic light — a portrayal refreshing in the present day. The script is still well-written and presents complex, flawed characters for the audience to reckon with. Every actor represents a slightly different take on how to resolve the town’s problems. Most leading actors play off each other dynamically through novel stage business and appropriate reactions. Notably, some characters toe the line between absurdist exaggeration and realism quite well: both Montgomery Kill, played by psychology freshman Truman Hicks, and Karen E. Lee, played by 2024 VPAS alum Darcy Krokus, were splendid additions of comedic relief that didn’t need to force jokes for them to land with audiences. The characterization of the show is one of its core strengths, making up for some of its struggles. To Hixson, the dramatized yet understandable characters are essential to the play’s message.
“People are so polarized they can’t even get along with their neighbors,” Hixson said. “We can sympathize with their characters while laughing at them.”
Audiences will likely enjoy the engaging demonstration of a chaotic political landscape placed in a quasi-familiar world. There is much to learn about how we interact with media, information and controversial discussions from this tragic tale of what we could become.
For a show that repeatedly asks who the true enemy of the people is, Hixson responds with a poignantly clear answer: “No one is very much a true hero.”