Peer Gynt

The story of Peer Gynt (2003) was by Grenland Friteater told over a span of six hours, by 50 performers and in three different stage locations spread all over Grenland. The audience was brought from location to location with buses and was treated to a meal midway into the play, at The Madhouse Café. Such a grand-scale mobile performance of Peer Gynt had not formerly been made in Norway.

Lars Vik directed it.

Carl Henrik Ekblom, Kyrre Hellum and Ola Otnes played the young, the middle and the elder Peer respectively.

Peer Gynt was revived in 2004 and 2008 with some changes in the cast.

Information

(Objekt ID 1917)
Object type Production
Premiere June 10, 2003
Produced by Grenland Friteater
In collaboration with Ibsen Theatre
Based on Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen
Audience Youth, Adults (from 15)
Audience size 11610
Number of events 40
Language Norwegian
Keywords Theatre, Physical theatre, Site spesific performance, Outdoors theatre
Running period June 10, 2003  
Duration 6 hours
Website Grenland Friteater
More

The first sequences in Peer Gynt by Grenland Friteater were performed outdoors in national-romantic surroundings at Telemark Fylkesmuseum, Brekkeparken. After the bridal robbery actors and audience were transported by bus to historical ground at Menstad, between Porsgrunn and Skien. Norway’s largest wooden building housed the Mountain Hall (the Mountain King arrived by locomotive), a madhouse on tracks and a stormy Northern Sea. The finale took place at midnight in a large, destitute landscape; the quarry of Bjørntvedt in Porsgrunn, where the aging Peer was confronted with his wasted life.

SOURCES:

Ibsen Theatre, teateribsen.no, 02.08.2017,  http://www.teateribsen.no/index.php?page_id=1317

Grenland Friteater, grenlandfriteater.com, 18.08.2010, http://www.grenlandfriteater.com/show_details.asp?ID=982

Performance dates
2008 New opening
2004 New opening
June 10, 2003Brekkeparken Opening night
Festivals (1)