PEER GYNT. To 30 October.
London
PEER GYNT
by Henrik Ibsen translated and adapted by Terje Tveit
Rosemary Branch Theatre 2 Shepperton Road N1 To 30 October 2005
Tue-Sat 7pm Sun 5pm Mat 22, 29 Oct 2.30pm
Runs 3hr 25min One interval
TICKETS: 020 7704 6665
Review: Timothy Ramsden 5 October
Superb ensemble theatre hitting its dramatic mark.Terje Tveit's Dale Teater Kompani (Britain's Ibsen equivalent of the RSC) shows a confident, perceptive and radical way with this written-to-be-read epic, following the life of a country lad, and liar, turned millionaire magnate. Ensemble spirit is the production's strength, suiting the script's rapid evolutions and a central character who's slipperiness personified. Like the onions appearing at one point, Peer has no centre. It's only the love he somehow inspires in Solvejg which anchors him at his life's end.
Adrienne Kress's Solvejg is an initially awkward-mannered, quietly assertive young woman, whose moral upbringing somehow latches onto Peer. Amid the whirl of his ever-changing existence, in an Arabian Market or wherever, she's a vision of patience and limpid stillness, fittingly appearing at the play's end from the only significant set-piece on the Rosemary Branch's otherwise near-bare stage.
This is a wardrobe, dominating the space, allowing shock discoveries, or a sense of characters chasing through a wild environment. It's a fitting metaphor too for the flow of memories and guilt (in which this play prefigures Ghosts and Ibsen's last, symbolic dramas) in Peer's life. Never more than when it's laid flat as death-bed for Peer's mother Ase (a scene skirting kitsch with its candles and softly metallic musical vibration).
Similarly, a length of green muslim becomes the recurring reminder of Peer's time with the Troll women (a splendidly messy 5-way sex scene), staining his life. This, and the full-cast Boyg swaying throughout the entire stage, insisting Peer makes his way round (an image central to his evasiveness), are vivid physicalisations, often productively countering the action's agitation and speed with slowness of movement or music, in a production which works best in the play's outer stretches.
The middle section would benefit from more concrete representation of the international affluence surrounding Peer (generally, the production works best given pre-knowledge of Ibsen's story). But James Bentley (alternating with Kristofer Gummeru) moves convincingly between energised confidence and desperation. And the final phantasmagoria of Peer's search, in madness or death, for identity in a swirling, elusive ensemble is a spellbindingly theatrical summation of the play's thematic core.
Travelling Emissary/Vicar/Button-Moulder/Child: Shane Armstrong
Un-Loved Husband/Young Lad wityh Bottled Brew/Master Cotton/Beouin Warrior/Begriffenfeldt/Cook: Simon Balcon
Peer/Young Lad with Strong Legs/Young Lad with a Scythe/Slave/Hussein/ Watch/ Aslak/ Slave Boatswain: James Bentley/Kristofer Gummeru
Traveller in a Suit/Bridegroom's Father/Hoegstad/Drunk Widower with Money/Solvejg's Father/ Dovregubben/Monsieur Ballon/Bedouin Warrior/Bachjelor/Helm
Farmer's Wife from the Upper Valley/ Ingrid/Kari/Lady with a Cheerful Expression/Spinster: Libby Curley
Gentleman Traveller in a Suit/Mads Moen/Herr Trumpeterstrale/Bedouin Warrior/Memnon's Voice/Huhu/The Strange Passenger: Stephen Doran
Military Doctor/ Master of Ceremonies/ Bragging Father/ Herr von Eberkopf/Bedouin Warrior/Thief/Fellah/Captain/Professor: Paul Engers
Un-Loved Wife/Girl with a Missing Button/Solvejg's Mother/The Woman in Green/Arab Girl: Katie Hayes
Lady Traveller with a Handbag/Solvejg/Mountain Girl/Lady with a Simple Expression/Arab Girl: Adrienne Kress
Archaeologist/Farmer's Wife from the Lower Valley/Helga/Queen of the Caravan of Knowledge/Spinster: Lucy Lill
Ambitious Mother/Ase/Bridegroom's Mother/Lady with a Dry Voice/Arab Widow: Maddy Myles
Lady Traveller with Glasses/Young Girl with Dimples and Plaits/Mountain Girl/ Arab Girl/Thin Wife/Child: Viola Newbury
Young Girl with a Big Bosom/Mountain Girl/Anitra/Lawyer: Simone Saunders
Director: Terje Tveit
Lighting: Finnuala McNulty
Choreography: Federica Zurleni
2005-10-06 15:16:21