 Elaine Bell Saeter Girl |
 Erica Bittner Young Solveig |
 Bryan Breau Aslak |
 Joe Ciresi Cook |
 Meg Elliott Woman in Green |
 Bryson Engelen Young Peer Gynt |
 Richard Engling Old Peer Gynt |
 Alex Fisher Strange Passanger |
 Carrie Hardin Ingrid |
 Hilary Holbrook Helga |
 Richard Engling and Bryson Engelen. Photo: John Sisson |
by Henrik Ibsen Translated by Robert Bly Directed by Jeremy Wechsler Read the reviews November 15 - December 18, 2011 Produced in association with DCA Theater at the Storefront Theater, 66 E. Randolph Street 
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 James Holbrook Button Molder  Devorah Richards Asa Gynt  Clay Sanderson Troll King |
 Jim Morley Nils Buglebrain  Abbas Salem Mads Moen  Miranda Zola Old Solveig |
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a chicago premiere event! Polarity Ensemble Theatre, in association with the DCA Theater, presented the Chicago premiere of Peer Gynt, a zany, high-energy translation by prolific poet Robert Bly of this rarely-produced Henrik Ibsen classic. Robert Bly is a National Book Award-winner and Poet Laureate of Minnesota, his home state. In Bly's translation, the wild, globe-trotting adventurer Peer Gynt, unencumbered by morals or a sense of responsibility, takes a mythic journey envisioned as that of America itself, from scrappy trickster to imperial power and beyond. Featuring live music and rustic settings reminiscent of 19th and 20th century Americana, Peer embarks on a 150-year whirlwind tour of the American psyche.  Bryson Engelen and Erica Bittner. Photo: John Sisson Bly's translation has received one other production at the Guthrie Theater in 2008. Upon that premiere, CityPages declared Peer Gynt to be a "sprawling dreamlike adventure," and Variety raved the show to have "intellectual charge and a pleasing emotional ambiguity." "Ibsen doesn't pull any punches," said Robert Bly in an interview regarding the 2008 production. "The amazing thing about this play is that, though written in the 19th century, it looks forward to a thousand things that are happening now. Especially when Ibsen lays out capitalism in the 19th century, the play becomes a really powerful indictment of the kind of young male personality that will go into capitalism in such a way as to ignore all other qualities of human nature, and simply aim for the money." "I am fulfilling a 10 year-long dream of directing Peer Gynt with this production," said Director Jeremy Wechsler, who is also Artistic Director of Theater Wit. "Set in a rough-hewn barn that converts to multiple locations and featuring live Americana folk music, we use each corner of the DCA Storefront Theater space for this epic whirlwind tour of American mythic history as seen through a 21st century lens." |
 Peer Gynt ran at the DCA Theater's Storefront Theater, 66 E. Randolph St., in the heart of Chicago's downtown theater district, from November 15 through December 18, 2011. Performances were Thursdays - Saturdays at 7:30pm and Sundays at 3pm. Not pictured above: Maggie Speer as the Old Green Woman.  Jeremy Wechsler, Director Paul Gilvary, Music Composer & Director Steven Hill, Production Manager Nicole Smith, Stage Manager Andrew Canada, Assistant Stage Manager John Kelly, Lighting Designer Rachel Lambert, Costume Designer Angela M. Campos, Props & Puppet Designer Andrew Dallas, Sound Designer Justin Krecker-Snyder, Technical Director David Fehr, Fight Choreographer Karen Tarjan, Dance Choreographer Chuck Palia, Resident Tech Director John Olson, Marketing Manager Maggie Speer, Managing Director Richard Engling, Artistic Director  Christopher Gagnon (Violin), Paul Gilvary (Bass), and Teddy Stuebi (Guitar and Banjo). Photo: Richard Engling  |
