At least Peer is on the podium for the whole show!
I (Henning) have been lucky enough to talk to Seda Witt, one of the actors in Peer on a Stool. For me, a real theater noob, it was a really exciting chat. My desire to see the show increased by about several hundred percent. Due to a hectic time for both of us, the interview was conducted by phone. In my opinion, this did not hinder the interview in any way.
I started just as well with the question I wondered about the most. It was about this sick idea and who on earth came up with this idea. Not surprisingly, Seda had prepared for this question and immediately denied that it was the actors' idea. In fact, one of the directors wondered if it was even possible to play Peer Gynt on a stool and there was only one way to find out. So they had no idea whether this would work, but with a few creative souls they made it happen and the result has been very good, they thought.
We moved on to a slightly more critical side and whether all six actors are actually on the podium under whole the performance. Seda hesitates a little before explaining that it's Peer on a podium, so Peer is on the podium throughout the performance and at the start all the actors are too, but when the chaos begins, even I realize that you have to start moving around a bit to create real chaos. In any case, Peer is on the podium throughout the performance," she concludes.
Peer Gynt is a play that many people have either seen or heard of, so I wonder if those who have seen Peer Gynt before will recognize it or have you created a new version? Seda starts by saying that this was one of the things that was discussed when we made the show. We agreed that we would make a combination. Those who have seen Peer Gynt should be able to recognize and understand that this is Solveig, but we also wanted to make sure that those who haven't seen Peer Gynt can follow the notes," she answers bluntly.
When talking about Peer Gynt, the age group is a relatively important topic. Seda talks about how this show should be suitable for all types of people, of all ages. "Hopefully, this is a show that suits everyone and has references that reach out to everyone. She also says that the show has been well received by the young people who have already seen it. "So we feel we've hit our target group very well.
If a number of changes have been made to Peer Gynt, how similar is it to the original version?" You'llrecognize yourself, I'm told. Seda explains that they have chosen to focus on Peer's playful and curious side. "This is to make it as interesting as possible for the target group," she continues, but she specifies that people will recognize themselves.
I look over my notes one last time and check that I've remembered everything, which I had except for one last thing: funfact. You see, we at SUS are fond of revealing facts from actors' private lives. So here it is;
I (Seda) have great difficulty reading red writing on white paper. That's why I always think at first glance that I have zero errors on my tests.
The interview was done before we in SUS saw the performance.