Theatre
Peer Gynt
Henrik Ibsen · 1867
Synopsis
Peer Gynt, twenty years old, comes home from hunting empty-handed and tells his mother Åse of a wild ride on the back of a wild beast. He goes to Ingrid's wedding at the Hægstad estate, notices Solveig there, then carries off the bride into the mountains. Outlawed by the village, he wanders the heights, enters the hall of the Dovre king, who wants to make a troll of him, and confronts the Bøyg, a formless force. There begins a wandering that will lead him, much later, to the Bedouins and as far as Egypt.
Context
The verse drama was written in 1867 in Italy, in Rome, Ischia and Sorrento, and appeared in Copenhagen on 14 November: twelve hundred and fifty copies, followed fourteen days later by a reprint of two thousand. Its author did not intend it for the stage. In 1874, he asked Edvard Grieg for music, who found the subject terribly difficult to handle. The premiere took place at the Christiania Theater on 24 February 1876; the production lasted about five hours and remained in the repertoire until 1893, reports Sceneweb.
Who it is for
A drama in verse and five acts, more often read than performed in full, which follows its hero from youth to old age.
Prizes and reception
Regarded as the best-known Norwegian play of all time; Grieg drew two suites from it.