Theater Review: Brilliant Scottish actor JamesMcArdle stars in DavidHare's new version of the fantastical Ibsen satire with nods to Thatcher, Murdoch and Trump, 'Peter Gynt'
Adapting Ibsen's most atypical major play must be at once daunting and thrilling. Such are the Norwegian's shifts between realism and flights of fancy that he almost invites a free hand from all who follow; but with that freedom comes danger, because it's a combination that can easily go awry.
Hare and Kent return to the scene of their triumphant 2016 Young Chekhov season, along with one of its stars, the brilliant young Scot James McArdle , who lends Peter the same waggish, whirlwind energy as he did Platonov. With "Peter" now hailing from Dunoon, the actor employs every entertaining curl and gnarl of his Scottish brogue to bring the self-deluded, outlandishly boastful egotist to life.
Among the many things Peter lacks is charm. After being run out of Dunoon for amorous misdeeds, his fantasy life takes a greater hold. Somewhere in his unconscious he communes with trolls — whose aggressively selfish behaviour would be cautionary if he were wiser — and a weird creature, the Boyg , who advises him to "be true to yourself.
Despite the promise of an odyssey with an absorbing thematic arc, the satire is on a downward spiral. With Hare summoning bêtes noires from his theatrical heyday and new ones such as David Cameron and Donald Trump, the humor feels limply obvious; a sort of Day-Glo set design makes Peter's more preening escapades feel rather twee.
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