Peer Gynt

Edvard Grieg

  • Act I

    50 min

  • Intermission

    20 min

  • Act II

    60 min

Duration: ca. 2 h 30

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Performances

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 put on the stage, the dramatic poem with episodic structure featuring fantastical elements turned out to be perfect material for a ballet. In 2015 the Slovenian dancer of Romanian origin Edward Clug created a choreographic adaptation of the play. 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, leaves questions about the meaning of the protagonist’s individual adventures unanswered, and, crucially, uses a very contemporary visual language, without treating the Ibsen piece as a dusty old fairytale inspired by folklore.

Ibsen’s Peer Gynt is a very modern character: An everyman and an antihero in one. He comes from an impecunious family and does not posses many material objects. He is egoistical by nature, can tell bare-faced lies, or fabrications, recounting trumped-up or totally made-up stories about the things that happened to him. In Peer’s imagination, his parents’ meagre dwelling becomes a shiny palace, while his morally questionable adventures turn into acts of heroism, offering him an escape from reality. Peer’s goal in life is ambiguous: he would like to be a somebody (preferably, somebody else) and find love, yet to appreciate the affection and loyalty of Solveig, a woman who develops feelings for him, Peer has to face angry trolls, set out into the Orient, become an inmate of an lunatic asylum, and return to where he started.

Edvard Grieg’s music naturally plays a crucial role in the production. The score combines two suites compiled from the 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 choreographer's view perfectly illustrate 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 the two main aspects of Peer Gynt, which is both a fanciful féerie and a story of a man’s growth into maturity. As a result, the production portrays a fantastical world that turns out to be very close to the present-day reality.

Polish National Ballet
Orchestra of the Polish National Opera

Cast

2024-10-25 | 19:00

Credits

Synopsis

  • Act 1

    Peer Gynt is daydreaming about hunting a white Stag. He shares his story with his mother Åse who accuses him of being a liar and idler. The mother scolds her son for missing out on a unique opportunity to marry Ingrid, Peer’s friend since childhood, so he could both put an end to their poverty, in which Peer’s negligent father left them behind. Ingrid is marrying Mads Moen, the wealthiest bachelor in the region. Peer joins the wedding guests, but his mother fears he could ruin the celebration.

    The feast begins and the wedding party is cheering out to the bride and groom. Only Ingrid seems distracted, thinking about Peer, with whom she once had an affair. In spite of Ingrid’s disinterest, the groom seems to be satisfied with the wedding. Peer’s presence at the event attracts the eye of women, who seem to be enchanted with Peer’s dance. However, the men are annoyed and provoked by Peer’s attitude. Solveig and her little sister Helga are also attending the wedding. At some point, Solveig and Peer come together, and their dance instigates Ingrid’s jealousy and people’s discontent. When Helga drags Solveig aside, Peer approaches Ingrid, and they begin to dance, which causes a stir among the guests. Aslak, the blacksmith, starts to quarrel with Peer, while the villagers try to sedate him with liquor. However, Peer does not quit the fight and mortifies Aslak in front of everyone. Aslak grabs his axe to avenge himself, but Death intervenes. Peer seizes the opportunity and elopes with Ingrid. Ingrid and Peer spend a passionate night together, even though Peer grows tired of her rather quickly and sends her off.

    Three dairymaids suddenly approach Peer and they try to seduce him. The next moment, a mysterious girl in green finds Peer all alone and shows him the way to the troll kingdom. Peer, intrigued by its wealth, agrees to marry the girl in green, who is in fact a troll chief’s daughter. The troll chief is eager to offer him the hand of his daughter and slowly uncovers her true face.

    The girl in green then begins with her awkward dance. As she approaches Peer to kiss him, he is horrified by her appearance and wants to escape. Nevertheless, the girl in green wants him all for herself, as she is carrying his yet unborn child. Peer protests and denies paternity, which provokes the troll chief, who wants to take revenge. The troll’s wrath is eventually cast away by little Helga, who also gives a punch to Peer, thus reminding him of his promise to her sister Solveig.

    Death enters into the troll kingdom and stops the angry trolls. When the threat is gone, Death paints Peer and the surrounding landscape on canvas. Helga and Solveig then come to see Peer. When alone, Solveig and Peer promise each other eternal love. Their romance is interrupted by a stag’s cry that announces the death of Åse. Peer then decides to return home, where he finds his dying mother. To alleviate her pain, Peer tells her a beautiful story, which takes them back to Peer’s carefree childhood days.

  • Act 2

    Several years have passed, and Peer has become a very rich capitalist. He undertakes a journey to the Morocco desert, where he meets Anitra, the daughter of a Bedouin leader. Peer is irresistibly attracted to her exotic appearance, but the girl only wants to rob him of his wealth. When she manages to steal everything he has, she leaves him in the foreign land completely alone. A mysterious doctor Begriffenfeldt meets Peer, who is wandering around, and invites him to join him in some special place. Peer soon realizes he has ended up in a lunatic asylum, where he is introduced to four lunatics, who seem to be excited by Peer’s arrival. Begriffenfeldt runs a few psychological tests on Peer and writes down his reactions. The patient is now completely exhausted and on the brink of a nervous breakdown. His immense wish of becoming someone else is now finally fulfilled – his friends at the lunatic asylum are crowning him as king.

    Peer is deeply disappointed with his life and must confront the truth that seems to evade him. He’s haunted by the memory of the Mads Moen’s and Ingrid’s unfortunate wedding. In his vision, the wedding guests, joined shortly after by the green girl with a newborn child, shout happiness to the newlyweds. Peer’s guilty conscience leads him to Solveig. Peer’s path is once again crossed by ominous Death, who offers him solace in the coffin, but Peer, though life-jaded, wants to buy himself some time.

    Meanwhile, Solveig has faithfully waited for Peer all these years and has grown old and blind. Peer bitterly realizes that he has thrown away all things that really matter in his life – most of all, Solveig’s love. He finds his final rest in Solveig’s arms, only their life journey has finally come to an end. They might find love and happiness in some other life, in some other time…

Sponsors

  • Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland

  • Patrons of the Polish National Opera | Partners of the Opera Academy

  • Partners of the Polish National Opera

  • Partner of the Polish National Ballet

  • Media patrons

  • Media partner

  • Partners of the event