Gynty

(2002)

Theatre Columbus presents

Gynty

Adapted by
Frank McGuinness

  • Ensemble Emma Campbell
  • Ensemble Oliver Dennis
  • Ensemble David Jansen
  • EnsembleMarcel Jeannin
  • Ensemble Martha Ross
  • Director Leah Cherniak
  • Playwright Henrik Ibsen
  • Set and Costume Designer Tamara Marie Kucheran
  • Music Composer and Performer Kirk Elliot
  • Stage ManagerNan Sheperd
  • Assistant Stage Manager Katherine Meswack
  • Production Manager Kim Purtell
  • Carpenters Ian Chapell & Nathaniel Kennedy
  • Painter Shay Hahn
  • Crew David Estrien & Geoff McBride
  • PublicistCamilla Holland
  • Poster PhotographyPhilip Langdon
  • Production StillsJohn Lauener
  • Graphic DesignerMessenger

The sweeping expanse of Peer Gynt’s story, with its 50 characters and fantastical locations, is zoomed down to a suspended and intimate world; five actors in a recording studio have been hired to perform Peer Gynt as a radio play. Based partly on Norwegian folk traditions, Peer is a wild and irrepressible young man; a dreamer, story-teller, a liar. He reinvents himself through a series of improbable adventures and Baroque dreams, journeys from the mountains of Norway to the deserts of Africa with a cast that includes trolls, lunatics, sailors and slaves.

Awards and Reviews

2004 Dora Awards – General Theatre Divison

  • Nomination: Outstanding Performance by a Male in a Principal Role – Oliver Dennis as the aged Peer Gynt
  • NominationOutstanding Musical Direction​ – Kirk Elliot

1998 Protégé Honours for Cecile Belec (1998/1999 Season for Peer Gynt)

“That is Cherniak’s – and the theatre’s – triumph: that an alternative reality can be treated with so little physical evidence of its existence”

– Kate Taylor, The Globe and Mail

Very special thanks to Alison Peddie for her invaluable help, and, Henry Bertrand, lan Chapell and Nathaniel Kennedy and Tarragon Theatre; Father Batic; Melissa Emerson; Steve Lucas; Keith Mariash; Michele Monteith; Doug Morum and the Factory Theatre; Mark Ryder and Theatre Passe Muraille; Barbara Singer; Mrs. Fisknes at the Royal Norwegian Embassy. 

THEATRE COLUMBUS GRATEFULLY ACKNOWLEDGES THE GENEROUS SUPPORT OF THE FOLLOWING GOVERNMENT AGENCIES, FOUNDATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS WHOSE CONTRIBUTIONS MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE

The Canada Council, the Ontario Arts Council, the Toronto Arts Council, the John McKellar Foundation, the Norman and Margaret Jewison Charitable Foundation, Intrinsic Management Inc., The Casual Way. 

Susan Alger, Nicole Arends, Janice Copeland, Lois Charters, Richard Garbig, Amanda George, Shauna Janssen, Jon Kaplan, Michele Kesten, Heather Morton, Deirdre Newman, Donald Ross, Glenna Ross, Mary E. Roth, Mary Truemner, Laura Wills, Angela Zehr, Amy Zierler .

Theatre Columbus and Factory Theatre are active members of the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres and Canadian Actors’ Equity Association and engage under the terms of the Canadian Theatre Agreement, The Toronto Theatre Alliance, Theatre Ontario and go7. Theatre Columbus and Factory Theatre are proud to be members of The Creative Trust. The trust is an innovative approach to generating long-term stability for twenty-three performing arts companies across Ontario. The Ontario Government matches the funds we raise through The Trust for endowment purposes. The Creative Trust applauds the foresight and generous support of our first donors: Alcan Aluminium Ltd, J.P Bickell Foundation, CCL Industries Inc., Dominion Group Foundation, DuPont Canada Inc., The Empire Life Insurance Company, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, Hollinger Inc., Hydro One Inc., The K.M. Hunter Charitable Foundation, Henry N.R Jackman Foundation, Jackson-Triggs Vintners, The Henry White Kinnear Foundation, the John McKellar Foundation, George Cedric Metcalf Foundation, Peter Munk Charitable Foundation, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, James and Sandra Pitblado, Power Corporation of Canada, Scotiabank, Donna Scott, O.C, Carolyn Sifton Foundation, Sun Life Financial, Trimark Financial, George Westin Limited and one anonymous donor. In kind donations by The Globe and Mail and 

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