Peer Gynt

by Henrik Ibsen, directed by Hal Cropp
Commonweal Theatre (May 9, 2008)

The audience at the Commonweal’s staging of Peer Gynt is tipped off right away that Peer Gynt will be different from the Ibsen plays staged in the past few years. First of all, the stage is not an interior of a turn of the century wealthy household. Instead, the empty stage suggests a rustic barnyard. Secondly, the program includes an insert with a 15-paragraph plot synopsis. But reading the synopsis is not required to follow the rather straight forward movement of the play: a young man, easily swayed by the pleasures of the world, sets off to find himself. This synopsis serves as a warning of the wild ride that Ibsen and the Commonweal have prepared.

The lanky Jerome Yorke plays the childishly impatient Peer who, on the one hand, follows every fancy that falls his way and, on the other hand, strives to be true to his guiding principle: “to thyself be true.” Driven by a belief that he is destined for greatness, Peer enthusiastically blunders through his self-absorbed journey, abandoning his mother and his true love to poverty and loneliness. His carelessness is illustrated by his willing amendment to his life principle for the opportunity to marry the lovely Troll Princess and the possibility of inheriting the Troll kingdom. “Be true to yourself-ish” becomes his new, troll mantra. Yet with all of Peer’s faults, Yorke’s Peer is charming and lovable throughout his clueless journey of lusting after women, wealth, piety, power, and respect.

While Yorke portrays Peer, the other 5 actors portray everyone and everything else. The breadth of the characters that Jill Underwood, Irene ErkenBrack, Stef Dickens, Scott Dixon, and David Hennessey assume during the course of the play truly makes the entire work unforgettable. They appear as the drably dressed villagers in one scene and spew out of a trap door in another as the humorously hideous troll family. Later, with the help of a billowy cloth, the cast becomes the shapeless and ever-changing mythical creature known as the Boyd.

Perhaps the cloth itself should have received placement in the cast list. This simple, colorless cloth plays a small creek as well as a stormy ocean. With simple manipulation it becomes a pillow, a partition, a deathbed blanket, a shroud, the Boyd, and amazingly enough, the Sphinx.

Dixon’s grim portrayal of the Button Moulder—a devil at the crossroads character—and Dickens seductive portrayal of the Egyptian dancer Anitra relieving Peer of his worldly possessions are particularly memorable performances amid the numerous fine individual and collective character portrayals in Peer Gynt. While individual performances stand out, the success of this play is clearly a company effort; the creativity of director, cast, and production team carries Ibsen’s farcical early work. Yet amid all of the absurdity, Ibsen still finds room to explore the central questions about what it means to be human.

Peer Gynt runs through May 18.

Visit the Commonweal for schedules and tickets: Commonweal Theatre