Peer Gynt

A Production of UCSC Theater ArtsWinter 2013

Actor’s Packet

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A NOTE FROM THE DRAMATURGY ADVISOR

Dear Collaborators,

In September when I made a general announcement looking for students who might be interested in pitching in dramaturgically on Peer Gynt, I expected one or two takers. Instead as we move into the production phase of this project we have assembled a veritable armada of six stalwart agents, a big team of highly capable theatre thinkers and researchers. In the short time we’ve had, I’ve introduced them to ‘Ghost Light’ dramaturgy, a muscular and deeply engaged approach to work that enhances and enriches the process of theater-making for creators and audiences alike. Professor Jannarone, our Director, is someone who knows from much experience working as and with a dramaturg how to get the best out of these folks - wind them up and let them go! I know you will find them eager, ready collaborators who will assist you not only in finding answers but in asking provocative questions. This actor’s packet represents only a small fraction of what they’ve already accomplished; for more, check out the Gynt wiki or, better yet, consult one of their brains directly. Over the course of the rehearsal, the dramaturgs and I will be giving various presentations and leading discussion groups with you, also while consulting with the director and the designers as we progress. In addition, the dramaturgs are working away from the stage to cultivate audiences, to spread the word, to teach and prepare, to sow seeds of ideas in our community, to support the conference of international authorites that are coming to UCSC to see this production, and to record our whole process for the benefit of those who follow us. We’ve already shattered time and been to parallel worlds - I can’t wait to see what’s next.

-Michael “Doc” Chemers

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Table of Contents

• A Production Journal: Summary of Major Themes• A Glossary of Terms• Information on Environmental Theater• Folklore of Peer Gynt and specific characters

Here we provide a packet that has been crafted by the production’s dramaturgy team to:

Introduce you to research from pre-productionTo jumpstart your own researchAnd most importantly, to ask questions

THE DRAMATURGICAL TEAM INCLUDES:

Sasha Pollatsek (Lead): spollats@ucsc.eduWendy Burr: waburr@ucsc.eduAaron Gonzales: aarongonzogonzales@gmail.comMeghan Rodarte: mrodarte@ucsc.eduDavid Schimmelman: dpschimm@ucsc.eduEllie Herold: eherold@ucsc.edu

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PRODUCTION JOURNALA summary of themes from pre-production

ON THE SOURCE MATERIAL: Our journey started with two scripts of Peer Gynt, a late 20th-century English translation by the Ibsen scholar Brian Johnston, and a 21st century adaptation by Colin Teevan. Our current script pulls heavily from these two texts, and contains additional dialogue, restructuring, and other scriptworks by Professors Jannarone, Bierman, and Chemers.

What follows are highlights of the major themes that we have so far been engaging in.

MAJOR THEME #1: “Norway” Peer Gynt’s journey of self-discovery begins in a land of stultifying conformity, a place with no room for the strange, the wondrous, or even the new. What is our Norway?

• Realization that many of our own conformity nightmares stemmed from our hometowns and youthful experiences, and that where we were raised is where we feel most suffocated.

• Mitt Romney and the idea of Mormonism- a group of people who fear individuality and nonconformity.

• Our Norway is a small town high school where our Peer is the only outcast in a stagnant mormon-like community

• Then who are our trolls? They are reflections of the villagers, close-minded and immersed in a self-reflecting fantasia. If our trolls have derived from our villagers, then they are the ugliest aspects of small town righteousness and prescribed beauty. High school students prepared for the "glamour" of prom night What they see as sheer beauty we see as terrifying.

• What of the Button Man? The judge, the executioner: who is he? Perhaps the creepy janitor of this high school, who knows and sees all that happens here?

• The asylum scene jumped out as a plastic surgery recovery ward- As plastic surgery remains the most inavise attempt to conform to a society's standard of beauty.

• With these themes in mind we ask you to explore: What of Anitra? The Professor? The Stranger...? Who are our characters and

where do we find them in this world?

The group was asked to bring in images and ideas of what our own personal "Norway" was. Here are two examples of what was brought in.

My idea of a small town is a place where the individual is forced to mesh into a suffocating “beehive community”. Unusual behavior, when practiced by every one, becomes the norm. Your past and present carries no secrets. Your life story no longer belongs to just you….it belongs to the whole beehive. (Concept Design by Karina Chavarin)

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David Schimmelman presented real images of his hometown. Text reads: Can you guess what this is? It’s actually a school called ‘Traditional Liberty.’ Note the ironical use of a fence and what, upon closer inspection, turned out to be a security guard.

MAJOR THEME #2: Time.

Next, we have to discuss the very real issue of time. In our current script we have moved the scene with the Button Man to the beginning of the play. The end of Peer’s life, then, appears before the beginning. What possibilities does this open up for us?

• Now, we are watching, along with Peer, the adventures of his life in the hopes to find the meaning the Button Man requires from him

• We have taken the experience out of linear, chronological time and into other possibilities. Now, all of Peer’s adventures are happening simultaneously.

• Peer’s Onion is a model of the expanding universe. But Peer’s Onion conceals no secret center - where then is the meaning?

• We have done away with linear story-telling, and given the audiene the freedom to explore. We have let each individual (audience member and actor alike) find their own relationship to our story.

Anything can happen when we allow for new connections and interpretations.

MAJOR THEME #3: Environment.

Discussing Acts four and five leads us to some very important questions about this production. How do we move audiences not only through time, but also through space?

• Audience will wear masks• Scenes will be happening simultaneously• The audience will have the freedom to explore and help create meaning

Serious questions for you: • How do we control this experience?

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• How do we prepare ourselves for everything that could or could not happen?• How do we invite such participation? How do we guide without outright

instruction?• How do we provide freedom while protecting our own safety and the integrity of

our event?• How do we create meaning that is flexible and layered? How do we bring our

nonlinear ideas to life? These are not theoretical questions, we must ask ourselves how this can logistically happen while keeping our meaning and intention in tact.

Our research has brought us into many interesting realms, I have stated some, but others include

• Parallel universes/nonlinear time, • Other productions that have used immersive/environmental theater, • The effectiveness of cross-gender roles in theater, • Peer's character and his ties to other characters throughout history and myth,• Mythology of trolls, the boyg, and other themes/characters we see.• The psychology of de-individuation. • AlchemyPLEASE: If any of this interests you within the context of your role, or the play, don’t hesitate to pick the brain of the nearest Dramaturg. It is our job to find or have these answers ready for you, the director, and the production.

Welcome to the world of Peer Gynt.

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GlossaryPage Number Term Definition6, 7 Gjendin/Gjendin Ridge: (also called Gjende) A lake in the Jotunheimen mountains in Norway's Jotunheimen National Park. The glacial lake has long and narrow with steep walls.

8 Gudmund Glesne: Also Gudbrand Glesne, the original subject of the reindeer story that Peer is plagiarizing, from Asbjornsen10 Lunde: “Grove” in Norwegian15 Heather: Group of flowering plants found most commonly in acidic and infertile growing conditions 16 Engelland: England 16 Truffles: A type of subterranean mushroom22 Anvil: A basic tool on which another object is struck 23 The Invisible Hat: A magical hat that grants the wearer invisibility, worn by an Alp, a nightmare creature of German folklore

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31 Ronde mountains: (also called Rondane mountains) Rondane is a typical mountain area with ten peaks above 6,560 ft.The mountains/surrounding area are an important habitat for wild reindeer.

31 Heron-footed: Herons are medium sized birds with long legs and necks. The feet of herons have long thin toes. 32 Provost: An officer of local government 33 Dovre: a town/village in Oppland County. It’s a troll haven. The Troll King’s full title includes the honorific “Dovreking.”

36 Muggles: Non-magical humans 36 Bromide: A chemical compound found in seawater, frequently used in sedatives in the 19th and 20th centuries37 “Skol!”: a toast, “cheers” 42 Saul: The first king of Israel, he fell on his sword to avoid capture in the battle against the Philistines at Mount Gilboa. 42 Bøyg: A troll in the Scandinavian folklore of Gudbrandsdal and Telemark. It is formless but deadly - the fact of its formlessness is what makes it deadly, like an actual bog.

45 Felling: In hand felling, an axe, saw, or chainsaw is used to drop a tree 45 Gable: the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof 46 Parson: the priest of an independent parish church 55 Soria-Moria castle: a castle in the Norwegian fairy tale made famous by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe in their classical Norske Folkeeventyr

56 Fjord: a long, narrow inlet with steep sides

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or cliffs, created in a valley carved by glacial activity (56) 66 RPG: Rocket-propelled grenade, a shoulder-launched anti-tank weapon66 Kalashnikov: an AK-47 assault rifle 70 Malabar: an area of southern India lying between the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea 73 “Wreck to leeward”: Leeward is the direction downwind from the point of reference. The side of a ship that is towards the leeward is its lee side 73 “Helm hard to starboard”: A helm is a ship’s steering mechanism, starboard refers to the right side of a ship as perceived by a person on board facing the bow (front) 80 Publican: an inkeeper80 “Cothurni of tragedy”: Cothurni are tall boots worn by actors in ancient Greece to add height85 Nebuchadnezzar : The fourth king of Babylon, best known for his victory over Elam and the recovery of the cultic idol of Marduk.

87 Heath: A shrubland habitat found mainly on low quality acidic soils 87 Sepulcher: Tomb

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A quick guide to Environmental Theatre

Definition: Performances which use installations and expansive environments, which have mobile audiences, and which invite audience participation.

The performance happens to the audience, so they become active participants in the creation of meaning.

Personal Experience

I have been involved in two performances that used environmental ideals and techniques. Both were different and had varying levels of success. Here I will share my experience and give some insight on what I wish I had known before taking part.

1 Audiences are very different.

This may seem obvious, but when the performance is on a personal level everything is heightened.

I took part in a performance that happened in India. They had performed the piece before in the UK with no problems; we rehearsed and performed to the crew, who acted as our audience. They responded to the show exactly as we thought an audience would. On opening night, however, we had an audience who was very excited and eager to take part, so much so that they followed me onto a roof on which I was playing the saxophone. I was unable to stop them. They couldn't be up there, as the roof wasn’t stable enough to support a great number of people. We didn’t expect them to follow me, so during the performance we had to be flexible to stop it, luckily one of the directors saw and helped me get the audience back on track.

2. Make sure you are comfortable with what you are doing.

Although the audience experience is important, you cannot jeopardize your own health, comfort, or safety. If you are uncomfortable with what you are being asked to do, please tell someone. With the relationship between you and the audience being so intimate it is key to make sure that you feel comfortable with everything you do.

In my experience I found that what I thought I was comfortable with changed in front of an audience. Something changes when there is no ‘4th wall’. This was one thing that I found very strange at first, but since have learned to enjoy. There were, however, one or two incidences that happened during the performance that made me feel uncomfortable.

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At the beginning of the performance the actors had to spread around the space and sit still as the audience came in. I felt fine with this until I had an audience member who intensely, and continuously, stared at me. I felt violated and it affected the rest of my performance that night. After it, I spoke to the other cast members and found they had felt the same and they were able to offer ways to combat this. By sharing with others in the cast and the director, this helped my performance and strengthened me as a performer.

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Audience

The main difference between regular theatre and environmental theatre is that environmental theatre is about the overall sensation, not limited to sight and sound. They can take part in the performance, perhaps by talking to actors or manipulating props.

The question the viewer now asks in this work is no longer ‘what is going to happen next?’ but ‘what will be my next discovery?’ This generates the possibility that the action can unfold in an unexpected, often nonlinear, fashion.

Actor audience relationship

Due to the nature of this type of performance the relationship between the performer and the audience member can be very intimate. Some audience members will feel liberated and engaged by this; others will be put off or even frightened by the ‘invasion’ of accustomed distance. The actor needs to be ready for anything.

Environment

The performance can take place in multiple discrete spaces – even between spaces, using not only rooms but also hallways and stairs.

One thing that needs to be considered is not only what happens in the room itself but how does the audience enter the space? This will not only have an effect on the performance inside, but also how the audience member views it.

For example, if the piece is about hospitals and medical examinations, the audience may be asked to fill out a health questionnaire and use hand sanitizer before entering the space. The performers may also be wearing hospital gowns and masks while doing this. The performance can start, and continue, before and after the scripted beats.

If you would like to know more this information is from: White, G., 2012 . On Immersive Theatre, Theatre Research International, [online]. 37 (03), pp221-235 .

Performances: Two companies worth looking up are Punchdrunk and Shunt. They specialize in environmental performance and use methods we are interested in utilizing.

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The Folklore of Peer GyntOppland, the home of Peer Gynt, is alive with the myths and legends of Peer. These myths are bound up in the most ancient folkloric traditions of Scandinavia.

The mythology of pre-Christian Norway suggests that there is a darker version of the world we know, a kind of looking-glass world, that is full of trolls. Norway is full of bodies of very deep, very still water that reflect the landscape perfectly - it is easy to image those images as another world, upside-down and just out of reach.

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FOLKLORIC BACKGROUNDS OF MAIN SUPERNATURAL CHARACTERS IN PEER GYNT

Peer: The most noticeable characteristic of Peer Gynt is how quickly he shifts, and how many times he makes the same decisions in different circumstances. The three greatest examples of this are The Squire’s Bride, The Three Princess in The-Mountain Blue, and Gudbrand of The Hillside. In the Squire’s Bride he plays the role of a squire and arranges for his lord to marry a cow to everyone’s amusement. In The Three Princess’s he plays a soldier that has been betrayed and is saving the princesses, and in Gudbrand he shows how cheating and lying can be virtues. These three folklore’s show the full spectrum of Peer’s power as an archetype.

Åse: The heart of Peer and Åse’s relationship can be seen in Gudbrand of the Hillside. In this story Gudbrand bets his neighbor their entire savings that he can go to town to sell the cow and come home with nothing, and she would still be happy. The tale ends on a joke, and with a picture of the pair embracing and smiling.

Solveig: Solveig correlates with the Teutonic myth of the woman in white who leads the hero to the treasure. This treasure is both their downfall and their saving grace. As for playing the role in drag the following is the link to the father of drag Charles Ludlum about playing the role of Hedda Gabbler straight: http://www.donshewey.com/theater_articles/charles_ludlam_CITA.html. The Bøyg: In mythic terms, the Boyg is a troll because it is supernatural in nature. Its power as a troll in mythical terms is twofold. It is the unavoidable death, which lies at the heart of an existential nature. It also represents the death that is experienced psychologically when one fully submits to someone who is truly the other. (In Peer’s case Solveg is that other.) If one is not willing to submit to their existential fate one is doomed to a bitter existence which leaves just the center of the onion, or a psychological death where there is no hope for transformation.

The Troll King: According to Brian Johnston, the Troll King is just the head of one of many troll nations. Looking closer at his nature we can see that he is the King of the doppelgängers. All of his trolls have two natures that can be seen. His own daughter, the Green Lady, is a perfect example of this. The most powerful example of this is how he appears to Peer three times in

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three different guises, including as an actor in urban Oslo. Like a doppelgänger he replaces someone of the human world to make room for him. Knowing what type of trolls we are dealing with gives some insight into Peer’s own ability to shift deities and roles as the situation requires.

Trolls: “Troll” is a blanket term covering all manner of goblins, giants, shapeshifters, ogres, and hybrid beasts who can employ various kinds of magical powers. In the troll world, things are not as they seem. Time and space behave differently. The barriers

between the worlds are thin - it’s possible for us to cross over, and for trolls to emerge into our world. Trolls, and the universe in which they live, are catastrophically dangerous, but they also hold secrets of wonder and riches.

The Button Man: The Button Moulder appears as the devil in Grimm’s Teutonic Myths. It is not the devil in the Judeo-Christian religion but another type of troll that collects human souls. It is with cunning and riddles that it does its best to ensnare the souls of his victims, however what these stories show is that cunning and wit is a double edge sword. In every story in which it appears, it is defeated by a human who is more clever than it, and as soon as its been tricked it makes a dramatic exit. Specifically, the devil as The Button Moulder bets that if it wins he can melt down the victim’s soul into a button to sell.

Anitra: In Norway there is water so clear that it mirrors towns perfectly. This is one of the mythical entrances into the world of the trolls. This myth shows how the world of the troll is one of mirrors, and Anitra is a perfect example of this type of mirror troll. In every way she matches Peer’s intellect, tenacity, and duplicity. He runs to the role of the Prophet to get away from all that glitters right into her arms, and she begs for soul, but demands an opal instead. Out of all the trolls, she is the closest to Peer Gynt. In many productions, Anitra, the Green Woman, and Solveig are played by a single actress - representing three very different spiritual conditions for a single woman.

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The Green Woman: The role of The Green Woman most closely resembles that of the Jungian idea of the shadow. She is the troll that is capable of showing all the wanton cruelty of Peer’s existential and romantic existence. In a world of action, we are defined by our cruelest deeds. Her abilities are reminiscent of the Picture of Dorian Grey whereby every ugly deed Peer has committed she wears on her body and mind, both which have been twisted by envy. In her power is the ability to draw Peer into either the world of the trolls, or into a fight he cannot win-the fight against the Boyg.

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