The world premiere at Spazju Kreattiv of Brad Birch’s contemporary adaptation of Ibsen’s 1867 play Peer Gynt does not have the soaring sensations and lofty mysteriousness which Edvard Grieg’s incidental music from 1875 gave the original, but it has cleverly retained and reimagined the satire of Ibsen’s original for a 21st century world in flux and upheaval.

It is a criticism of both egocentric avarice and extreme capitalism which has brought about the destruction of cultures, societies and accelerated climate change.

The themes which Birch ascribes to the different sections and acts of the play range from the loss of life in people trafficking and forced migration, to the abuse of power and the excess greed by multimillionaires in control of natural resources, media empires and advanced digital and tech industries.

Peer Gynt is a trickster and a liar, he travels far and wide, both to satisfy his lust for new experiences, and to escape the terrible situations he finds himself in – through selfishness, irresponsible and thoughtless bravado, and sheer arrogance.

His redeeming feature is to realise the error of his ways, albeit a little too late, only to be catapulted into the next segment of his intensely chaotic life story before he manages to fix the previous problem.

Adrian Buckle’s production itself was a quality piece directed by Chris Gatt who was, as is usually the case with his own directed pieces, also in charge of the lighting design. With a simple but versatile raked set designed by Romualdo Moretti, the theatre in the round at Spazju Kreattiv surrounded three sides of it and its elevation somehow made the space appear larger.

Joseph Zammit’s titular Peer Gynt was a strong voiced, nuanced and engaging despite his character’s negative qualities as a liar whose story we are never entirely sure we can trust. 

He played well against his accompanying interlocutor, X, played by a patient and well-paced Mikhail Basmadjian, who pushed for more information while somehow knowing more than he let on.

Peer’s attempts at regaining his mother Ase’s trust always fall short, but Ase, portrayed poignantly by the skilful Pia Zammit, never stops loving him and making excuses for him, in spite of his ever-increasing selfish and irrational choices.

I particularly liked the contemporary version of the trolls whom Peer encounters, challenges, attempts to hoodwink and eventually overpowers. These are not the mythical Norwegian trolls, but the digital kind – the ones who hide behind legitimate businesses and manage the criminal underworld, mafia-style.

They are the manipulators and money launderers who value money over human life and whose dealings are only eclipsed by the supposedly legal and above-board multimillion dealings of the true movers of society: the supposedly benevolent businessmen along with the oligarchs – those who harness and monopolise resources, control the media, people, governments and information.

A powerful and cogently orchestrated production

Stephen Oliver and Faye Paris showed their versatility when they played two different but parallel father-daughter versions. Ingrid and her father, in Norway – Ingrid being the young woman that Peer runs away with on her wedding night to Mads Moen (Gianluca Mifsud) and essentially ruins, while they also play the Troll King and his devious daughter, the Green Woman.

The cast played various characters and ensemble parts with multiple doubling and just like Paris and Oliver, gave strong, solid performances throughout. Mifsud doubled as Ballon, one a triumvirate of world manipulators, with Cotton (Paula Fleri-Soler) and Toad (Shaun Rizzo) while Oliver also played a deranged doctor in northern Africa and The Boyg – a disembodied voice which speaks in ominous riddles to Peer’s consciousness.

With an international cast, including Marina Plotnikova as Solveig, the only woman, other than his mother, who loves Peer for who he truly is, and whom he loves back, Silvana Maimone who played a priest, a brain-fogged guru and a pilot, and Abdolwahed A. Alwaer playing Aslak and a troll, among others, the secondary cast was rounded off by Emmanuel Augustine and Ann Marie Buckle as Kari.

Joseph Zammit as Peer Gynt.

Plotinovka’s gentle, loving and steadfast Sloveig was endearing and Maimone’s map-cap characters memorable. Music Design was in the capable hands of the Songaia Group – whose own personal history with migration made them the perfect choice.

In preserving the essence of Ibsen’s intention, Birch and subsequently, Gatt and Buckle in their powerful and cogently orchestrated production have upheld its value and its dramatic power.

And while this performance may not be the layman’s cup of tea in terms of length and weight of its subject matter, the production ticked all the right boxes from both a performative, dramatic aspect as well as good technical, theatrical practices.

It was a highly interesting piece to put up and certainly commendable for its effect on the audience – it stood out for all the right reasons.