‘Gint’ in Appalachia

The legend of Peer Gynt is an exhaustive, fantastical one. A ragged man becomes highly successful only to find his fortunes turn over the course of many, many years. It’s a long and winding journey based in Norwegian folklore. Many years after Henrik Ibsen crystallized the legend into a five-act play, American playwright Romulus Linney rewrote the drama, casting it in Appalachia. The strange, dreamlike fugue of the story plays out early next month in a brief impression at an East Side studio theater courtesy of the UW-Milwaukee’s Peck School of the Arts.

UWM instructor Jim Tasse directs the drama, which stars two different students in the title role. In act one, we see Glenn Widdicombe in the role. Widdicombe has a sinewy, precise stage presence that should be interesting in the ragged end of the role. At the tale’s beginning, we see a man of ambition limited by his own actions, which involve lying, drinking and various sexual misadventures. In act two, Michael Jeske plays Gint as a 75-year-old billionaire who has compromised much and looks to found a new country based entirely on corporations. Widdicombe, Jeske and a host of other actors hope to bring the immensity of one life into the humble confines of a studio theater.

Gint runs Dec. 4-8, at Kenilworth Studio 508, 1925 E. Kenilworth Place. For tickets, call 414-229-4308 or visit arts.uwm.edu/tickets.

Theatre Happenings

Sunset Playhouse brings James W. Rodgers’ adaptation of the Frank Capra classic to the stage this holiday season as it presents It’s A Wonderful Life, Dec. 5-31, in its theater space at 800 Elm Grove Road. For tickets call 262-782-4430 or visit sunsetplayhouse.com.

The popular comic wedding theater show, Tony & Tina’s Wedding, will descend on Turner Hall Ballroom, Dec. 5-14. The dinner-and-a-show in a wedding reception format has appealed to audiences for decades. For tickets, call 414-286-3663 or visit pabsttheater.org.