Word: prascak
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Adapted and directed by Mark Prascak...
...skeleton of the original is still recognizable in Prascak's version. The plot is basically the same: Peerless Gynt, a young dreamer-adventurer, spends his life in restless self-imposed exile from his one true love, the everpure Solveig. During his travels, a plethora of temptresses, trolls, lunatics, and other fanciful creatures test his wits, his consciousness, and his sense of identity...
...Prascak has also kept much of Ibsen's poetic language intact. However, he inexplicably destroys the poetic effect by injecting banal modernisms into Ibsen's imagery. Prascak peppers the play with pronouncement's like Peerless' "I feel as strong as a Chicago Bear." Is Prascak making fun of Ibsen's lofty verse, or blindly sacrificing poetry for a cheap laugh? I don't know; it's hard to tell...
...updated, presumably in an attempt to make Ibsen's satire more relevant to a Harvard audience. Trolls become yuppies. Slave trading becomes arms dealing. War in Greece becomes war in Nicaragua. And the ocean becomes--literally--the Adams House swimming pool. These are all easy targets for jokes, but Prascak has nothing novel or interesting to say about them...
...cartoon performance, though, is Jy Murphy's, as the insane pool cleaner. He says nothing, but walks up and down the edge of the pool, like a refugee from Monty Python's "Ministry of Silly Walks" sketch. For some reason, this is screamingly funny. But is it funny because Prascak meant for his actors to be so one-dimensional, or because the actors are simply inept? I don't know; it's hard to tell...