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The Arts Council Playography Na Gaeilge

Plays

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Peer Gynt

OVERVIEW

  • Playwright

    Declan Burke-Kennedy 

  • Adapted / Translated From

    Henrik Ibsen

  • Author Notes

    Adapted from Ibsen's original.
  • Synopsis

    Peer Gynt is a young man who has great potential as an artist but who is constantly at war with his physical desires. Despite his quest for absolute purity he repeatedly falls for the fleshy temptations of compromise, as he swaggers and seduces his way from the fjords of Norway to the deserts of Africa and back. Along the way he has a number of trials and adventures: he meets a young woman and they fall in love; he helps a bride escape from her wedding; he considers joining the Trolls; he becomes a successful businessman, loses it all, pretends to be an Arab prophet, and winds up in a lunatic asylum. Finally, he returns home to confront a creature called the Shadow, who has always been watching him and trying to teach him what it is to be human. It is the Shadow who forces Peer to consider returning to the woman he fell in love with so much earlier in the story, and pursue a career as an artist.

  • Play Type

    Adaptation/Translation

    Number Of Acts

    Full-Length

  • Cast Size Male

    3

  • Cast Size Female

    2

Original Production

  • Date of First Production

    07 October 1984

  • Producer

    Produced by Cork Theatre Company

  • Original Venue

    The Everyman

  • Venue Notes

    First performed at the Father Matthew Hall, Dublin as part of a nationwide tour, before opening at the Everyman Palace Theatre, Cork on October 22nd, 1984.

Original Cast  
Performer Melody McNamara
Performer Kay Ray Malone
Performer Maurice Sheehan
Performer Guy Carleton
Performer Dan Mullane
Production Team  
Director Mary Elizabeth Burke-Kennedy
Designer Patrick Murray

Unpublished Scripts

  • Contact

    Declan Burke Kennedy

  • Address

    Carrigahorig
    Nenagh
    Co. Tipperary
    Republic of Ireland

Rights Information

  • Territory

    All Territories

  • Rights Type

    Adaptation rights

  • Contact

    Declan Burke Kennedy

  • Address

    Carrigahorig
    Nenagh
    Co. Tipperary
    Republic of Ireland

Source Of Information

The information for this entry was supplied by a member of Cork Theatre Company.