Peer Gynt at Classic Stage Company

adapt: John Doyle; dir: John Doyle.

Authors

• Gerald Freedman
• Henrik Ibsen
• John Morris

When Henrik Ibsen wrote Peer Gynt in 1867, he never intended the work to be performed on stage & instead, envisioned it as a poetic fantasy to be read. Peer Gynt quickly became recognized as a masterwork of Scandinavian literature & in 1876, he adapted his work for the stage. The work's popularity derived from Ibsen's use of Norwegian fairy tales, particularly, Asbjornsen's Norwegian Fairy Tales, but Ibsen was also poking fun at some of the popular new ideas, including the emerging trends about getting back to nature & simplicity, ideas also popular in the United States since Henry David Thoreau espoused them. As a play, Peer Gynt consists almost entirely as a vehicle for Peer's adventures as a character who runs from commitment & who is completely selfish, having little concern for the sacrifices that others are forced to make in accommodating him. Ibsen's use of satire & a self-centered protagonist suggests social implications for 19th century society, a topic that always interested him.