‘Water, water everywhere nor any drop to drink?’ Could this be a very real discussion in the country in the not too distant future?

Opening at Ilkley Playhouse this week is An Enemy of the People, the original by Henrik Ibsen but here in translation, adaptation by Rebecca Lenkiewicz - and it couldn’t be more current.

Yvette Huddlestone directs a very experienced cast in this powerful drama which is as much about a woman’s descent into almost madness as it is about the problem of something bad in the water.

A town, strangely reminiscent perhaps of Ilkley – a spa town in a beautiful location, with a new therapeutic bath house - is found to have a contaminated water source. The ‘healing’ waters are essentially poisonous.

In an open-plan set, which has the airy feel of both Scandinavian summer and also perhaps the early mists of a Yorkshire summer, Dr Stockmann (Paula Boyle) is hosting a gathering of family and friends.

Quite urgently a letter, confirming her worst suspicions is delivered, and initially the assembled crowd is vehement in their support for her.

It’s obvious isn’t it – no-one should come and be made ill by the very thing they expected to cure them.

But, one at a time and reluctantly, the townsfolk realise the impact that the discovery will have on all of them: their businesses, their local taxes, the value of their properties – doing the right thing can have dire consequences.

This is a fantastically provocative piece and is played brilliantly by this stellar cast: Louise Button is the local hack, Hovstad who can’t wait to expose the story until she realises how her very paper is at risk.

Damien O’Keeffe plays Dr Stockmann’s brother and the town’s deeply invested mayor - the tension between him and his sister is tangible.

Felicity Woodhouse, Stockmans’ daughter Petra,is a firebrand, cast in the mould of her mother, whilst Christopher Stockman (Wander Bruijel) is in conflict as he tries to hold the well-being of his family caught up in the fight over that of the town’s visitors.

Add to this line-up the voices of her father-in-law, Morten Kill played by Ian Taylor, set to lose his business and Aslaksen, the news editor played by Dick Hebbert and the fight is really on.

The layers which make up this conflict are manifold. Paula Boyle plays out the escalating trauma of the good doctor with real fervour – when you know that you are right – and the audience can see it - how can it be those around you, who stand to suffer if they ignore you, start to campaign against you?

This is a piece that will elicit deep thought and wide-ranging discussion – the bar staff had better prepare for some late nights! It’s powerful, clever and a fascinating debate – the parallels in the world around us are too easy to note.

An Enemy of the People play in the Wharfeside Theatre in Ilkley until September 21.

For tickets call 01943 609539 or go online at ilkleyplayhouse.co.uk