This year marks the 100th anniversary of the death of Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, and 125 years since he wrote “An Enemy of the People,” but some things never change.

“It has a lot of connections to civic-mindedness and community spirit,” Island Theater director Stephen Stolee said of the drama.

Island Theater, known for holding play readings at the Bainbridge Library, is taking Ibsen’s classic play on the road, performing a full recitation at almost every library in the county, The Playhouse on Bainbridge Island and the Sons of Norway Hall in Poulsbo between Nov. 3 and 19. The Sylvan Way Library is the only one not hosting a performance.

“Enemy” tells the story of a man who does what he thinks is the right thing for the safety of his community, only to be branded as “an enemy of the people.”

Dr. Thomas Stockman, played by Paul Goetsch, is the health director of the curative, and lucrative, baths in a small coastal town. The town depends on the baths for an income, drawing people to the town for their health benefits.

But when Stockman discovers the bath waters are being polluted by upstream toxic waste he follows his professional and personal ethics and notifies the townsfolk.

Instead of being hailed as a hero for saving the people from the dangerous effects of the toxins, he is vilified for threatening to ruin the town’s prosperity.

Sound familiar? The battle between commerce, the environment and public health is one we see played out daily in the media.

As the plot unfolds we see other issues still very much current: media bias and the integrity of the press, political wranglings and property development issues.

“The play is 125 years old but it still rings with a sense of contemporary-ness,” Stolee said.

That “contemporary-ness” is aided by the fact that playwright Arthur Miller updated the play for American audiences in 1958.

Miller waged his own battle against injustice, challenging the actions of the House Un-American Activities Committee, who sought to ferret out Communists — particularly in Hollywood.

“Miller took up the banner,” Stolee said. “He added drama to the town meeting. He also added clarity and smoothed it out.”

Ibsen has peopled the play with characters who challenge or support the iconoclastic doctor. Stockman’s brother Peter, played by Charlie Wise, is the chairman of the baths committee and the town’s mayor. He takes a stance in opposition to his brother.

Hovstad, played by Daniel Kluth, is the editor of the town’s left-leaning newspaper; Aslaksen, played by Fred Saas, is the newspaper’s printer. He is also the chairman of the homeowners association and a member of the Temperance Society.

Billing, played by Adam Holliday and Kirk Nordby, is an assistant at the newspaper who plans to run for office and has an eye for Dr. Stockmann’s daughter, Petra.

Morten Kiil, at the center of controversy, is a rich old man who owns several of the offending upstream tanneries. He is also the grandfather of Dr. Stockman’s wife, who is the major beneficiary of his will. Kiil is played by Jim Martine.

On the doctor’s side are his family, wife Catherine, played by Diana Liljelund, daughter Petra, played by Amelia Thomas Stier and sons Ejlif (Jeff Laws) and Little Morton (Dylan Arnold).

Stolee directed the players in a staged reading of the play at the Bainbridge Library two years ago, but this will be the first effort with costumes and minimal scenery.

At that performance the audience took on a participatory role as the townspeople assembled at the pivotal town hall meeting. Stockmann calls the meeting to try to convince the people of the danger. They end up chanting “enemy, enemy.”

Stolee said the effect of the library audience chanting as if they were the angry mob was a “very visceral reminder that we are subject to forces we can’t control and are surprised by.”

He hopes to revisit that level of participation at the upcoming presentations.

For Island Theatre, staging Ibsen’s play at the library was a natural. Stolee said they have had a good working relationship with the Bainbridge Library for eight years, performing readings there approximately six times a year.

“We’ve developed a good collaboration with the library,” he said. “We decided it would be nice to take this on the road as a tribute to the library.”

He also called the venue and play a perfect match — “It’s where literature comes to life,” he said.