theartsdesk in Oslo: Two Peer Gynts and a Hamlet
Not so much a national hero, more a national disgrace. That seems to be the current consensus as Norway moves forward from canonizing the loose-cannon wanderer of Ibsen's early epic Peer Gynt. It's now 200 years since Norway gained a constitution, and 114 years since Peer first shone in the country's National Theatre, that elegant emblem of the Norwegian language. Where does the country stand today, and can Ibsen's m…