Peer Gynt and Brand
A new Penguin edition of Ibsen's two great verse plays, in masterful versions by one of our greatest living poets, Geoffrey Hill.
These two powerful and contrasting verse dramas by Ibsen made his reputation as a playwright. The fantastical adventures of the irrepressible Peer Gynt - poet, idler, procrastinator, seducer - draw on Norwegian folklore to conjure up mountains, kidnappings, shipwrecks and trolls in an exuberant examination of truth and the self; while Brand, an unsparing vision of an idealistic priest who lives by his steely faith, explores free will and sacrifice. This volume brings together the poet Geoffrey Hill's acclaimed stage version of Brand with a new poetic rendering of Peer Gynt, published for the first time.
This Penguin edition includes an interview with Geoffrey Hill about recreating Ibsen in English, an introduction by Janet Garton and editorial materials by Tore Rem.
Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) is often called 'the Father of Modern Drama'. Born in Norway, he left his homeland in 1864 for a 21-year long voluntary exile in Italy and Germany. After successes with the verse dramas Brand and Peer Gynt, he turned to prose, writing his great 12-play cycle of society dramas between 1877 and 1899. This included A Doll's House, Ghosts, Hedda Gabler, The Master Builder, and, finally, When We Dead Awaken.
Geoffrey Hill (Translator)
Sir Geoffrey Hill (1932-2016) was Professor of Poetry at the University of Oxford from 2010 to 2015. He published many volumes of poetry and critical writing, winning many awards, and his Broken Hierarchies: Collected Poems 1952-2012 appeared in 2013.