Approximate running time of 45-50 minutes. No songs.
The story of Peer Gynt, a difficult young man, whose recklessness causes him to be exiled to the mountains where he is plagued by supernatural beings.
This famous story, taken from an epic poem by Henrik Ibsen, weaves many of the Norwegian folk tales into it’s fabric. Peer Gynt is a disaffected young man, who is a fantasist and braggart and treats his widowed mother disrespectfully. When his childhood sweetheart elects to marry someone else, Peer kidnaps her from her wedding and tries to run off with her. The furious villagers exile him from the village, on pain of death. He roams the mountains, having constant and difficult encounters with supernatural beings, who plague his existence. One girl from the village, the kindly Solveig, believes in him and chooses to share his life but, like all Nordic sagas, it does not end well.
20 speaking parts. Unlimited non-speaking villagers and trolls.
Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite can be used for mood music, if desired.
As with all our plays, there are full production notes that give advice on scenery, costumes and props.
NO ROYALTIES. PHOTOCOPYING LICENCE INCLUDED.
Here’s a sample
SCENE 1.
A wooded hillside, with distant mountains, and a cool, clear mountain stream, near MA GYNTs Farm.
Opening Music – The first 8 bars of ‘Morning Mood’ by Grieg, approximately 20 seconds.
Enter two NARRATORS, dressed for a wedding and carrying flowers.
NARRATOR 1
Good afternoon/evening. Welcome to our presentation of the epic story of Peer Gynt.
NARRATOR 2
The more observant of you will have noticed how smartly we are dressed – our fine clothes, hair, the flowers we are carrying, that sort of thing.
NARRATOR 1
The truth is – we’re on our way to a wedding! Exciting or what?
NARRATOR 2
I can’t wait!
NARRATOR 1
Patience, patience! First, we have a job to do.
NARRATOR 2
You’re right! But more of the wedding later. Let us introduce you to our story.
NARRATOR 1
Peer Gynt was a young man who lived on a farm in Norway with his mother.
NARRATOR 2
His father was once a successful business man, but he wasted his money and was now a travelling salesman….
NARRATOR 1
Who spent a lot of time travelling… …and very little time at home.
NARRATOR 2
This meant that Peer Gynt and his mother had to scrape a living from their farm.
NARRATOR 1
They were poor, very poor. Life was hard for them both.
NARRATOR 2
Peer’s mother needed his help more than ever now his father was away so much.
NARRATOR 1
But Peer was not the sort of young man you could rely on.
NARRATOR 2
Peer Gynt rarely pulled his weight – he was lazy, yet he had one skill which he honed to perfection – he was brilliant at avoiding work.
NARRATOR 1
He was a great believer in ‘Do it yourself’.
NARRATOR 2
You see, if you wanted any DIY, he would just say ‘Do it yourself!’
NARRATOR 1 (Counts off Peer’s faults on her fingers)
He was also a poet and a dreamer, a boastful braggart, an accomplished liar and extremely rude and very disrespectful to his mother so no wonder she quite naturally despaired.
NARRATOR 2
But don’t take our word for it. Judge for yourselves! Here they are now!
(Enter PEER GYNT followed by his MOTHER. Throughout this exchange, two NARRATORS sit at the side and react with nods, shakes and facial expression as the story unfolds)
MA GYNT (Shouts)
Don’t you dare walk away from me! I’m talking to you and I haven’t finished yet!
PEER GYNT (he turns to her)
You don’t talk to me, you talk at me. No wonder I’ve stopped listening!
MA GYNT
You don’t listen because you don’t want to hear what I have to say!
(PEER GYNT rocks his head from side to side and mouths ‘Nag, nag, nag’ to the audience.)
MA GYNT
Tell me why your work in the fields hasn’t been done then? You’ve got a good reason? You always have!
PEER GYNT
Well, I’ve been distracted. Something came along that I found more interesting.
MA GYNT
Distracted? I’ll give you distracted! There’s hedges to trim, gates to mend – I could go on….
PEER GYNT
You usually do….
MA GYNT (Lunges at him)
So help me Peer, I’ll swing for you yet!
PEER GYNT (Ducks out of the way, skips back and grins.)
Well, if you must know, I’ve had an exciting morning up in the mountains.
MA GYNT
Tell me about it. I’m all ears.
PEER GYNT
And that’s why you need to wear a scarf! Anyway, up in the mountains, well deep in the forest really…
MA GYNT
There you go! Which was it, mountains or forest? If you’re going to lie, at least be consistent. Get your story straight before you start. Make your mind up! That’s if you’ve got a mind that is!
PEER GYNT
As I was saying, mountains or forest – whatever, it doesn’t really matter. I was stalking a deer – I heard it first, then I saw its antlers, so I crept forward, slowly and silently, raised my gun, and shot it!
MA GYNT
Just a minor detail, Peer. If you don’t mind me saying, you’ve never owned a gun.
PEER GYNT
No matter. It was only stunned, not dead, so I jumped upon its back and stabbed my knife into its neck. It reared up and took off! I hung on for dear life!
MA GYNT
Yeah, right. For ‘deer’ life?
PEER GYNT
It kicked and bucked, or it might have bucked and kicked, and threw me off! I crashed into a rock, barely conscious and half winded, I lay there as first it ran at me with its antlers, and then trampled me with its hooves before it ran off.
MA GYNT
Let’s see the bruises then.
PEER GYNT
What?
MA GYNT
By my reckoning you’ve got a broken back, cracked your skull, deep wounds from the antlers, and a good shooing from its hooves, so you’ll be badly bruised too. So show me.
PEER GYNT
Well…
MA GYNT
Go on, show me. You can’t can you! Just one lie after another! So, you’ve not cracked your skull, broken both legs, and your back and ribs too? I thought not!
PEER GYNT
Hey! It was a good story though, eh, mother? I always could tell good stories.
MA GYNT
It’s not a story Peer. It’s another lie, Peer. I’m at my wits end. (She points offstage) See our farmhouse? Notice anything?
PEER GYNT (he looks offstage)
I don’t know what I’m supposed to see.
MA GYNT
See the holes in the roof, the rags stopping up broken windows? The door half hanging off its hinges? The hedges and fences all down? I could go on! What do I do to convince you that life is serious? That you’re old enough to take more responsibility now your father’s gone.
PEER GYNT
Oh, mother dear. Life has to be more than responsibility. What about fun, catching the moment, seizing the day, seeing where the wind takes you? I’m allowed to dream! I could be a king, or a Kaiser! What if your son was emperor, mother? That would be a proud day for us both!