We are ready to be judged

May 30 2007 By Tamsin Lewis, The Journal

Rule-breaking theatre company Threeovereden are going against the grain with a Henrik Ibsen double-hander. Bill Martin and Leslie Simpson explain why to Tamzin Lewis.

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Art and madness are often thought to be close companions, but rarely do folk admit to being deranged in their production of great works.

Threeovereden, a small artist-led North-East theatre company, is different. Its founders - playwright and director Bill Martin and actor Leslie Simpson - are happy to affirm that staging two plays simultaneously is a little screwy, especially when one of them is a rarely-performed epic.

In a tour across the North-East, Threeovereden are performing a new adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's lengthy poetic masterpiece Peer Gynt and as a companion piece, their own version of the playwright's life, Young Ibsen.

Bill, of Hexham, says: "Really, it is complete madness to be doing this. Ibsen broke all the rules and established his own. His work was controversial and didn't toe the line, and neither do we."

Leslie, 40, of Middlesbrough, says: "Peer Gynt is one of the biggest plays in the history of theatre and it is being produced by the pair of us. The last time we did Peer Gynt it was a bridge too far and it nearly killed us. It was absolutely exhausting and I was in bits after each night. Physically and emotionally, it is a very demanding role.

"This time we are doing two plays so we are completely and utterly insane. We must be mad. We question our sanity all the time. No right-minded person would do what we do."

Threeovereden are certainly gluttons for punishment. The last time they staged Peer Gynt was only two years ago, and since then Bill has re-written the script. This new version is a completely fresh production with a different company of actors: Jacqueline Phillips, Arabella Arnott, Mark Cronfield, Chris Connel and Leslie.

Bill says: "We only touched the surface of Peer Gynt in our first revival of the play. I think we were innocent the first time and possibly foolhardy. It is a very difficult play and this time round it is so much more hard work. Complicated, but also fascinating."

Leslie says: "When we last did Peer Gynt we stripped the play down to the drama and its philosophic truth. Now we realise that we were far away from what the play is all about. This time round we genuinely feel that we have got to the heart of Peer Gynt."

Written as a dramatic poem in 1867, it is the story of an unprincipled opportunist who kidnaps a bride, only to abandon her in the wilderness. As a fugitive, Peer experiences amazing adventures in faraway lands before returning to his home an embittered old man.

Ibsen adapted the folkloric poem for the stage with a score by composer Edvard Grieg and it was first performed in 1876. Bill's humorous version is updated from the 19th to the 20th Century and has been informed by Threeoverden's research undertaken for their second new play, Young Ibsen.

Bill says: "We collected together letters, manuscripts, statements, bits of poetry and plays which were all relevant to Ibsen. This collage of original writings became a patchwork kaleidoscope of ideas and facts about Ibsen. From this, myself and the company of five actors created a story of Ibsen's young life up until he wrote Peer Gynt in his mid-30s. This gave us an insight into Peer Gynt and we found the character to be a reflection of Ibsen.

"Ibsen was a drunken, lusty, contradiction of a man with a wicked sense of humour. If that is who Peer turns out to be it should make for an entertaining theatre."

Leslie, who plays Gynt, says: "Young Ibsen is a kaleidoscopic documentary, which is possibly the best way to way to describe the man Ibsen. Every time you look at him something new crops up, just like when you turn a kaleidoscope.

"It made revisiting Peer Gynt a very interesting proposition for us. What we discovered was that Peer Gynt was Young Ibsen himself."

Norwegian Ibsen wrote most of his best known works while travelling throughout Europe, where he lived in Rome, Munich and Dresden. His anarchic individualism and satirical writing brought him popularity across Europe.

Leslie says: "We identify with Ibsen and we, like him, are not doing as we are told. In some way we are anarchists, but not in a negative way or political way. We follow what we feel is right."

Leslie comes to the part of Gynt fresh from appearing as a "dead-eyed killer" in Doomsday, a post-apocalyptic sci-fi blockbuster directed by Whickham-born Neil Marshall.

Although set in the UK, filming took place earlier this year in South Africa, with Adrian Lester, Bob Hoskins and Rhona Mitra alongside Leslie and Craig Conway, who have appeared in all of Neil's films.

After being on the set of a multi-million blockbuster, Leslie is now embarking on a tour of North-East's theatres with a marathon role. "The play is lighter than it has ever been," he says.

"I have lived with Peer for such a long time but I haven't got bored of him. I have come at him from a different perspective for this production."

* Young Ibsen is being performed at Arc, Stockton, on May 31. Box office: (01642) 525199; Hambleton Forum, Northallerton, on June 2. Contact: (01677) 427272; Queens Hall, Hexham on June 5. Box office: 01434 652477; Darlington Arts Centre, June 7. Box office: (01325) 486555; The Store, Dipton, June 9. Contact: (01207) 571177; Lit and Phil Library, Newcastle, June 11. Contact: (0191) 232-0192

Peer Gynt is at the Alnwick Playhouse on June 1. Box office: (01665) 510785; Darlington Arts Centre on June 6/7. Box office: (01325) 485-6555 and Northern Stage from June 13-16. Box office: (0191) 230-5151.