Peer Gynt Flies High at KC Rep, Previews 4/22

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Kansas City Repertory Theatre is revolutionizing Henrik Ibsen's classic fantasy play Peer Gynt with David Schweizer's five-actor adaptation of the sweeping Norwegian epic.

Schweizer also directs. Peer Gynt runs April 22-May 22, at Copaken Stage and is a co-production with La Jolla Playhouse.

Reduced in cast size, but not in scope, Schweizer's imaginative interpretation of Peer Gynt is a wild, hilarious and surreal theatrical adventure about a man who dreams, swindles and charms his way through life as he pursues his exhilarating quest for fame and fortune.

Peer Gynt was written in 1867, decades before Ibsen's political plays such as A Doll's House and Hedda Gabler. It was considered to be the most innovative play in western European dramatic literature - so innovative, in fact, that Ibsen himself called it unstageable. "As grand and imaginative as an epic folk tale, as ridiculous as slapstick comedy, and as moving as any great love story, David has taken Ibsen's classic and made it brand new," said Eric Rosen, Kansas City Rep's artistic director. "Peer is our everyman, our comrade, if you will, and in his epic, mythological story Ibsen shows us what it means to search for our identity, and what it means to finally come home."

David Schweizer has been directing original theatre, performance and opera for more than 30 years nationally and internationally, beginning with his radical adaptation of Troilus and Cressida at New York's Lincoln Center, where he will return this fall with Sir Richard Rodney Bennett's Mines of Sulphur for New York City Opera. His recent Off Broadway productions include Charles Mee's Wintertime, William Hamilton's White Chocolate, Mark Campbell's Songs From an Unmade Bed and Rinde Eckert's
Previews: April 22-28 Closes: May 22

Copaken StageOBIE Award-winning And God Created Great Whales, which also toured and played at the Barbican Centre in London. Schweizer has participated in international residencies in Lisbon, Sarajevo, Prague,
Toga Village-Japan, and Warsaw where his Peer Gynt is still running. Regionally he has staged works at Trinity Repertory Company, Arena Stage, Center Stage, Mark Taper Forum, Geffen Playhouse, McCarter Theatre and many others.

The cast of Peer Gynt is comprised of Danny Gavigan (Peer Gynt, Buttonmoulder and others) - Snow Falling on Cedars (Centerstage), Of Mice and Men (Lennie, Ireland National Tour), The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Maryland Shakespeare Festival); Birgit Huppuch (Ase, Solveig and others) - Neighbors (Public Theater), Telephone (2009 OBIE for performance, Foundry Theatre); Luis Moreno (Peer Gynt, Troll King and others) - Fêtes de la Nuit (The Ohio), Uncivil Wars (Baryshnikov Arts Center), Uncle Vanya (13
th Street Theatre), The Arabian Nights (Arena Stage, Berkeley Rep); Kate Cullen Roberts (Ingrid, Anitra and
others) - Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (Broadway, Off-Broadway, Williamstown Theatre Festival), Fit (59E59), "Law & Order: Criminal Intent"; Evan Zes (Peer Gynt, Mads Moen and others) - The Arabian Nights (KC Rep), Around the World in 80 Days (Irish Rep), American Dreams (The Acting Company), Romeo and Juliet (Lucille Lortel Theatre), The King Stag (The Barbican, London).

The design team includes David Zinn (Scenic Design) - In the Next Room (Tony, Drama Desk nominations), A Tale of Two Cities, Xanadu, costume design for Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo (Broadway); Christina Wright (Costume Design) - Philip Glass' Monsters of Grace, Quintet of the Astonished, Tim Robbins' Break the Whip (Actor's Gang); Darrell Maloney (Lighting and Projections Design) - American Idiot, Everyday Rapture (Broadway); Ryan Rumery (Sound Design, Composition) - Thurgood (Broadway), Three Sisters, Orlando, The Forest, Uncle Vanya (Off-Broadway). Assistant director is Arika Larson, production stage manager is Mary R. Honour and casting is by
Stephanie Klapper.

Peer Gynt runs April 22-May 22 at Copaken Stage, located at 14th and Main streets in Kansas City, Missouri. Tickets are $20-$60. Please contact the Rep Box Office at 816-235-2700 or visit www.KCRep.org for information about performance times and ticket options.

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