NEW YORK—It’s difficult to equate Henrik Ibsen’s “Peer Gynt” with his later realistic social dramas such as “A Doll’s House” and “Ghosts,” to name but two. However, John Doyle, as director and adapter of the version of “Peer Gynt” now playing at the off-Broadway’s Classic Stage Company, has pared down Ibsen’s original five-to-six-hour version to less than two hours. The result brings to mind the onion that is peeled away by the eponymous Peer (Gabriel Ebert) as he seeks to find the ultimate kernel that may express his real self, which he has sought a lifetime.
The opening scene is arguably the most dramatically staged and, therefore, the most involving of the evening. Here, the glib but charming Peer entrances his Mother (Becky Ann Baker) with a tall tale of how he has ridden and tamed a wild stag on a mountaintop. She finally comprehends that he has deceived her but cannot resist her son’s imaginative tales.
Peer goes on to steal a Bride (Jane Pfitsch) on her wedding day. The Bridegroom (George Abud) threatens Peer, but Peer is able to get free and is made an offer to become a Troll (two are portrayed by Dylan Baker and Pfitsch). Feeling he has too much to lose by making that commitment, Peer again flees.
Peer travels the world, portraying a variety of characters: He will be emperor of the world someday, he insists. He roams from snowy Norway to the North African desert, then to the sea, becoming at one time a wealthy slave trader. He thinks only of himself and his own pleasure.
