By Jake Pellegrino - Staff Writer Walking into the Black Box Theater I didn’t know what to expect. I had never heard of “Peer Gynt” before and was not familiar with Henrik Isben’s work aside from a play of his that I read in a literature class.
Nevertheless, I was pleasantly surprised by it’s peculiarity. This is a play that does not spoon-feed you answers, you have to work for it and make your own interpretation of it, which is one of its many joys.
“Peer Gynt” follows a free spirit with a wild imagination. Gynt has few ambitions and the ones he does have are far too grand, such as being emperor of the world.
Much of the play takes place in Gynt’s imagination, which says something about his character.
We see this drastic imagination when he attends Ingrid’s wedding, a girl whom Gynt could have married but ruined his chances, much to the chagrin of his mother, Åse.
He then kidnaps Ingrid and takes her away to the mountains. After getting intoxicated, leaves the bride behind and meets several trolls who offer him the opportunity to be a troll himself, which delights Gynt. However, it comes with one condition: He must marry the Troll King’s daughter.
Throughout the play he has many interactions with the trolls, which explores the question of what the difference is between trolls and men, a central theme of the play.
The play goes on to show Gynt’s many adventures, culminating in his final realization of his purpose in the world. He is hailed as the emperor he always dreamed of, however as an “emperor of the ‘self,’” which the audience can assume means that he only imagined it.
While all the actors were very impressive the one that stood out for me, was Jack Saleeby, who played Peer Gynt.
Saleeby threw himself into a very complex role and acutely expressed Gynt’s transformation. His role appears as complex due to many lines dealing with abstract issues, all of which are spoken in old Victorian English.
Saleeby’s role was also mentally demanding because the play shifts between reality and fantasy.
The set was a unique combination of various elements. It had your typical wooden set, puppets and a video screen.
The video screen was especially interesting because it often showed the location of where the action was taking place to enhance the story.
Peer Gynt is a profound and intricate play and can be rewarding if you stick with it, suspend belief and let it wash over you. As a viewer, the play allowed me to think abstractly and opened up my mind to a new style of theater.