The Stage

Peer Gynt

Published Monday 1 October 2007 at 11:00 by Peter Cargill

Director Dominic Hill is leaving the city of discovery for pastures new and it was inevitable he would leave his mark.

Already famed and revered for his innovative slant on the classics, this Peer Gynt - although never as Mr Ibsen intended - is nevertheless breathtaking. This new version by Colin Teevan is an experience.

It all begins in the bar, where patrons arrive to find Ingrid’s pre-wedding reception in full swing. Then it’s through to the auditorium for the buffet where Peer’s flights of fantasy soar to new heights.

Profanities come by the bucketload (and that could be deemed as rhyming slang), a quad bike is the troll’s wedding carriage, an old caravan is Peer’s cottage in the hills, he goes gun-running in Africa, Ibsen’s shipwreck becomes an airline crash with the stranger appearing as an air hostess, the original country and western wedding band provide musical accompaniments - it was certainly different.

Keith Fleming is quite outstanding as Peer - showing great effort and agility as he displays passion and lunacy in equal measures. Gerry Mulgrew plays the older Peer with a little more bemusement in his descent into despair.

Robert Paterson deserves mention as the unsavoury leader of the trolls, even the audience cowering as the action spills into the auditorium.

And young Helen Mackay will not forget her pro debut in a hurry, being brought in to play Solveig at the 11th hour. Perhaps, her shyness and vulnerability was for real.

Designer Naomi Wilkinson has stripped the stage bare apart from a lengthy staircase bisecting the back wall with members of the 20-strong cast sitting at the side as and when required to supply various sound effects.

Even at three hours (including 20-minute break), it didn’t seem a second too long.

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