Peer Gynt
Edvard Grieg
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Act I
50 min
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Intermission
20 min
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Act II
60 min
Duration: ca. 2 h 30
Ballet in two acts
Libretto: Edward Clug after the dramatic poem by Henrik Ibsen
Music: Edvard Grieg(Peer Gynt Op. 23 and other pieces)
World Premiere: 5 November 2015, Slovene National Theatre
Polish Premiere: 25 October 2024, Polish National Ballet
Theatre makers find Henrik Ibsen’s Peer Gynt to be rather problematic. While challenging to mount on the stage, the dramatic poem with episodic structure featuring fantastical elements turned out to be perfect material for a ballet. In 2015 Slovenian dancer of Romanian origin, Edward Clug created a choreographic adaptation of Peer Gynt. The ballet’s Maribor world premiere was a triumph and the work was subsequently staged in Zurich, Vienna, Dortmund, Hannover, and Leipzig. What is the reason for its popularity? It is not intimidated by the original’s broken narrative, leaving questions about the meaning of the protagonist’s individual adventures unanswered, and, crucially, uses a very contemporary visual language, without treating the Ibsen play as a dusty old fairytale inspired by folklore.
Ibsen’s Peer Gynt is a very modern character: Everyman and an antihero in one. He comes from an impecunious family, does not posses many attributes, is egoistical by nature, can tell bare-faced lies, or fabrications, telling trumped-up or totally made-up stories about the things that happened to him. Thanks to the work of Peer’s imagination, his parents’ meagre dwelling is transformed into a shiny palace and his morally questionable adventures become acts of heroism, offering him an escape from reality. Peer’s goal in life is ambiguous: he would like to be somebody (preferably, somebody else) and find love, yet to appreciate the affection and loyalty of Solveig who develops feelings for him, Peer hast to face trolls, set out to conquer the Orient, be committed to an asylum, and return to where he started his journey.
Edvard Grieg’s music naturally plays a crucial role in the performance. The score combines two suits created from incidental music to Ibsen’s play as well as the composer’s other instrumental pieces: String Quartet in G minor Op. 27, Piano Concerto in A minor Op. 16, and a selection of Lyric Pieces, which in the choreographers view perfectly portray the atmosphere of the poem.
Clug’s true fascination with Ibsen’s ambiguous dramatic poem produced a surreal ballet with elements of the theatre of the absurd, palpably gloomy, yet marked with a large measure of irony. The choreographer managed to capture both aspects of Peer Gynt, which is both a fanciful féerie and a story of a man’s growth into maturity. And so the performance works in an extraordinary way: it portrays a fantastical world which turns out to be very close to present-day reality.
Polish National Ballet
Orchestra of the Polish National Opera
Cast
- Peer Gynt
- Solveig
- Death
- Åse
- Deer
- Ingrid
- Mads Moen
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Yume Okano
- Aslak
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Daria Majewska
- Anitra
- Dr Begriffenfeldt
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Antonio Lanzo
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- Peer Gynt
- Solveig
- Death
- Åse
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Nikodem Bialik
- Ingrid
- Mads Moen
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Nikola Dworecka
- Aslak
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Yana Shtanhei
- Anitra
- Dr Begriffenfeldt
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Antonio Lanzo
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- Peer Gynt
- Solveig
- Death
- Åse
- Deer
- Ingrid
- Mads Moen
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Yume Okano
- Aslak
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Daria Majewska
- Anitra
- Dr Begriffenfeldt
-
Antonio Lanzo
-
- Peer Gynt
- Solveig
- Death
- Åse
-
Nikodem Bialik
- Ingrid
- Mads Moen
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Nikola Dworecka
- Aslak
-
Yana Shtanhei
- Anitra
- Dr Begriffenfeldt
-
Antonio Lanzo
-
- Peer Gynt
- Solveig
- Death
- Åse
- Deer
- Ingrid
- Mads Moen
-
Yume Okano
- Aslak
-
Daria Majewska
- Anitra
- Dr Begriffenfeldt
-
Antonio Lanzo
-
- Peer Gynt
- Solveig
- Death
- Åse
-
Nikodem Bialik
- Ingrid
- Mads Moen
-
Nikola Dworecka
- Aslak
-
Yana Shtanhei
- Anitra
- Dr Begriffenfeldt
-
Antonio Lanzo
-
- Peer Gynt
- Solveig
- Death
- Åse
- Deer
- Ingrid
- Mads Moen
-
Yume Okano
- Aslak
-
Daria Majewska
- Anitra
- Dr Begriffenfeldt
-
Antonio Lanzo
-
- Peer Gynt
- Solveig
- Death
- Åse
-
Nikodem Bialik
- Ingrid
- Mads Moen
-
Nikola Dworecka
- Aslak
-
Yana Shtanhei
- Anitra
- Dr Begriffenfeldt
-
Antonio Lanzo
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Credits
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Edward Clug
- Conductor
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Miloš Isajlović
Mirjana Šrot
- Set Designer
- Costumes
- Lighting Designer
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-
Edward Clug
- Conductor
-
Miloš Isajlović
Mirjana Šrot
- Set Designer
- Costumes
- Lighting Designer
-
-
Edward Clug
- Conductor
-
Miloš Isajlović
Mirjana Šrot
- Set Designer
- Costumes
- Lighting Designer
-
-
Edward Clug
- Conductor
-
Miloš Isajlović
Mirjana Šrot
- Set Designer
- Costumes
- Lighting Designer
-
-
Edward Clug
- Conductor
-
Miloš Isajlović
Mirjana Šrot
- Set Designer
- Costumes
- Lighting Designer
-
-
Edward Clug
- Conductor
-
Miloš Isajlović
Mirjana Šrot
- Set Designer
- Costumes
- Lighting Designer
-
-
Edward Clug
- Conductor
-
Miloš Isajlović
Mirjana Šrot
- Set Designer
- Costumes
- Lighting Designer
-
-
Edward Clug
- Conductor
-
Miloš Isajlović
Mirjana Šrot
- Set Designer
- Costumes
- Lighting Designer
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Sponsors
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Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland
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Patrons of the Polish National Opera | Partners of the Opera Academy
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Partners of the Polish National Opera
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Partner of the Polish National Ballet
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Media patrons
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Media partner
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Partners of the event