Richard Baird as Dr. Thomas Stockmann in New Fortune Theatre Company’s “Public Enemy.”

(New Fortune Theatre Co.)

New Fortune Theatre artistic director, stage director and actor Richard Baird has been making theater in San Diego for more than 20 years, most recently the West Coast premiere of “Public Enemy,” Scottish playwright David Harrower’s contemporary, edge-of-the-seat 2013 adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s 1882 Norwegian drama “An Enemy of the People.” Baird directed the show and played the lead role of Stockmann, a dangerously idealistic doctor fighting the corrupt leadership of his doomed hometown to protect the public health. Baird’s high-wire performance in the 90-minute thriller was the best, and most fearless, performance I saw all year, and the bare-bones physical production at a Point Loma church outshone many of the big-budget shows I saw at theaters 10 times the size. This theater company has no home theater and no season subscription, and it only produces about one show each year. But I’ve learned that anything New Fortune produces is a must-see that almost always ends up on my “best of the year” list.