Peter Gynt is truly an awful person. He is not a respectful man, and certainly is no hero. He takes advantage of women, fuels corporate greed, drowns a man, the list goes on. But he also loses everything he’s ever known and loved, and in some weird way, one can’t help but feel sympathetic.
But that’s just because James McArdle, who plays Peter, is a lovely actor.
David Hare’s Peter Gynt is an adaption of the classic Peer Gynt by Ibsen in which Peter explores a modernized version of the original tale. The show opens with an overzealous Peter who is - in simple terms - an asshole and ends with the same gross as ever Peter. The audience is swept away on Peter’s journey through an amazing set design, but the writing is stale and does not challenge anyone’s thoughts.
The stunning set brings the audience on an immersive journey into the fantastic world Peter lives in. A dramatic back-lit door, emerging stairs, and a house featuring a smoking chimney are some of the initial set pieces featured. Some of the most show stopping sets featured a stylized troll dining table, an impressive ship in the open ocean, and an exciting plane crash. Set and costume designers Cara Newman and Richard Hudson were highly effective in engaging the audience and creating anticipation from scene to scene on what mess Peter will find himself in next.
Additionally, the acting is truly phenomenal. In the final act, James McArdle as Peter delivers an emotional monologue that was absolutely moving. Not good enough for Heaven, not bad enough for Hell, James expresses his extreme distress with being just average. He yells, he cries, and above all is astoundingly candid. The pain of being “nobody” is extremely compelling and relatable, and James sells the audience of it being a fate worse than eternal damnation.
However, that is not to say that I enjoy Peter as a character. While James does an amazing job at selling Peter’s shifting point, the play is not very relevant or thought provoking. It did not push any boundaries, and the only cultural value the show had was from the perspective of Peter- an able-bodied white man who mistreats women.
Additionally, certain moments lack direction and plot. For example, when Peter first falls in love with Sabine, he borderline sexually harasses her. And then, she decides to run back to him, proclaiming her love back. The lack of direction in one of the only female characters of the show is the fault of writer David Hare, and is not something to be ignored.
And, while Sabine’s development was extremely rushed, other scenes droned on for too long. When Peter first meets the trolls, he is taken to their king in which he learns their traditions and morals. This scene had a beautiful set, but that’s about all it had to it. The dialogue and directing was boring, and in all honesty, sleep inducing.
Peer Gynt is originally a five-hour production, and to adapt it into a little over three hours is ambitious. Understandably, some scenes must be cut, and many must be modified. However, these faults are not catastrophic. The show still feels complete and satisfying at the end and has a message to convey, but the message is stale and does not represent what our society needs to be shown.
Overall, this show features an excellent set with great acting that cultivates thought - and that’s where it’s value ends. It’s still entertaining, nice to look at, and doesn’t make the audience think too hard - so, like Peter himself its sins are not deep enough to send the show down.