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Peer Gynt: A Comedy of Terrors!
Miracle Theatre are back on the road this summer, with their hilarious adaptation of Peer Gynt!
The grey skies didn’t dampen Joanna’s spirits as she headed to the iconic Minack Theatre for Miracle Theatre’s latest summer tour – Peer Gynt: A Comedy of Terrors!
Peer Gynt, written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, is the epic story of an arrogant, lazy, and charming peasant who spends his life running from responsibility and reality. Through a series of surreal adventures, he wanders from the Norwegian mountains to the African desert, ultimately realizing he must confront who he truly is. With the original text lasting over five hours and featuring more then fifty characters, it required some clever adapting by Amelia Sutherland to create a two hour long, four-person production.
The story follows Peer as he travels through many locations from his home country of Norway on his ultimate journey to purgatory, and explores the many characters he meets along the way including Aslak the Blacksmith, Ingrid the Bride, a group of Mountain Trolls and a Strange Ship Passenger. These characters and locations were cleverly managed by the four-person performing team of Daniel Richards, Rosie Hughes, Jowan Jacobs and Beck Watts, with a variety of crates and hung paraphernalia swiftly transforming a house into a mountain track, or a set of simple aproned-skirts transforming the cast into a gaggle of giggling dairymaids.
Daniel Richards brought the character of Peer to life with great gusto, with Rosie Hughes bringing great humour to his mother’s character and a beautiful softness to Solveig. Miracle-newcomer Beck Watts portrayed a hilarious range of characters – with particularly amusing expressions as the young Mountain Troll – Felicity – and the Strange Passenger. Jowan Jacobs injected whimsy into the mysterious Button Moulder and the vaguely-threatening Troll King.
Edvarg Grieg’s famous score has been masterfully transformed by Julian Gaskell, with the underscoring and musical elements rooting the performance in its Norwegian heritage, with classics like In The Hall of the Mountain King cleverly reimagined by Gaskell for the harmonica!
Peer Gynt is quintessentially Miracle Theatre – a fresh adaptation of a classic tale, packed with their trademark humour and heart. With the show touring 34 venues across the South West this summer, there are plenty of chances to join the fun. Don’t miss it!
Peer Gynt tours until 29th August. Find a venue near you and book your tickets here
Production Images: Lynn Batten
