The director of Peer Gynt, Radoslav Lolov, says in his notes to the preview that ‘it was the show’s alleged unstageability that first grabbed him.’
Unfortunately, as is so often the case with press previews, we have no real sense of whether he will succeed in overcoming the aforementioned unstageability. In 6th week a three-tiered scaffolding and – a full symphony orchestra will descend on the Keble O’Reilly and it is only then that we will see whether it all comes together. In the preview it was just the actors, with no costume, a table and chairs for scaffolding and tinny music from a computer in place of the orchestra.
Even so, it was clear what a difference the music could make. By far the most poignant moment was when Peer Gynt (Tim Kiely) took his mother, Aase (Margherita Philipp) in his arms, telling her stories as she slowly faded from life. Kiely’s delivery was transformed by the support of Grieg’s beautiful piece Aase’s Death and the final whispered lines of the scene had real emotive power.
There is, however, still more work to be done on the characterisation of these two actors. Both have a particularly difficult job; Kiely is expected to age by 40 years during the production and Philipp has to swap between the roles of the young bride and the aged mother. These changes and contrasts will be marked by costume but the characters themselves need to be much more delineated so that we get a real sense of movement throughout the play.
The main actors were ably supported by a strong chorus, who bring out the aspects of folk-lore which are so central to Ibsen’s work. Changing from trolls to monkeys to old women, they brought a real energy to the performance which will be even greater when allowed the freedom of the O’Reilly and the full extent of the scaffold. Jordan Waller also put in a fun cameo towards the end as two contrasting devils who tell Peer that he will neither go to heaven nor hell because he is too boringly mediocre and Jamie MacDonagh’s Mountain King watched the action unfolding beneath him with a chilling malevolence.
This should be a fantastic spectacle when it all comes together; the actors just need to strive to overcome the wonder of the music and set so that they are the standout feature of the show.
