"This telling 'Peer Gynt' is both more digestible and less flavorful than usual…If this production lacks the teeming, motley exuberance that pulses in Ibsen’s text, it definitely distills the intriguing philosophical essence of a play that still seems unsettlingly relevant…By the time he comes to his tête-à-tête with the onion, we may not feel like weeping, as Peer does. But in this production, we can definitely understand why and how he’s reached this pathetic moment of communion."
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"The spirit of austerity courses through John Doyle’s production of 'Peer Gynt.'...This slimming down has been effected though a strict renunciation of many pleasures. Gone is most of 'Peer Gynt’s' humor, gone is the pageantry, gone is the verse...The strong cast helps create memorable scenes...But even the production’s most playful bits have little sense of fun. It is elegant and thoughtful, but hampered by priggishness."
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"His version is directed and acted with considerable imagination, but there’s no denying that it amounts to a 'Peer Gynt' suite, a production that whets the appetite rather than sating it...What we have here, then, is something not unlike a pencil sketch of 'Peer Gynt,' one that demands an enormous amount of imaginative participation on the part of the audience. But the play, with its protean symbolism, amply rewards such participation, and you’ll have no trouble following this compressed version, even though the cuts are so deep that it will sometimes feel as though you’re watching a synopsis of the play being acted out onstage."
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"Doyle gets an E for effort, but the production gets a D for dull. Peer’s adventure leads him to women, trolls and, in the play’s dramatic high point, an onion — as he tries to peel back the layers to his true self. As Peer, Gabriel Ebert gives his all. So does the onion. Doyle is the incoming artistic director at Classic Stage Company. This leaves lots of room for improvement in coming productions."
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"A man peels an onion live onstage in John Doyle's adaptation…Would you believe that this is the most dramatically compelling moment of the whole play? Unlike most of the other scenes, the stakes feel real and palpable — and may even bring tears to our eyes. Unfortunately, the remainder of this cleverly conceived but confusingly executed production is as sleepy as it is opaque…Doyle has reduced a messy and fantastical tale into one that is merely dull. "
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"Handsome to look at, well-cast, and a total bore…The production is so stripped back that it is often hard to follow...It is often virtually impossible to tell where Peer is and to whom he is speaking. Given this stark approach, the play's many mystical and/or fantastical aspects are denuded of their power. God help you if you are unfamiliar with the play; chances are, you may find yourself totally lost…Doyle's staging is a bold experiment -- but experiments sometimes fail."
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"Doyle has directed Ebert in an outsized performance that meets the challenges of this difficult text and lends the role a certain consistency of style. The result is a Peer who's compelling throughout...Parts of Doyle's abbreviated account of Peer's odyssey are bound to perplex playgoers unfamiliar with the original...There's plenty to debate about John Doyle's streamlined 'Peer Gynt'. What's incontestable is that Doyle and Ebert are an explosive combination."
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"John Doyle has turned Ibsen’s epic 'Peer Gynt' into a kind of Everyman morality play which demands total concentration from the audience to follow this stripped down version. While Ibsen’s first four acts are drastically cut, the fifth act which seems to show Peer’s redemption is given extended play. Some will find this a fascinating reinterpretation of an unwieldy classic. Others will find that the approach is tediously too much of the same."
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