Peer Gynt: From Play to Game

Abstract

Henrik Ibsen’s drama Peer Gynt (1867) has been adapted for a video game. While it is meant for educational use and has already been launched on a Norwegian publisher’s school site, its learning mechanics are subtle enough that the game will also be offered in the entertainment market as a narrative adventure game (The Peer Gynt Game, n.d.). An adaptation of a written play as a video game implies that new modes of storytelling are being introduced, as well as a degree of agency for the players. The capability for this medium to adapt to and develop more traditional narrative expressions, considering their immense popularity and increased acknowledgement as works of art, makes video games an increasingly important area of study (Ensslin 2014; Kulturdepartementet 2019). This was part of the reasoning behind the decision to develop a video game version of Peer Gynt for students in secondary school. The project was initiated by Peer Gynt AS, the organizer of the annual Peer Gynt festival in Gudbrandsdalen district in Norway, where three of the play’s five acts are set. They were searching for new ways to introduce a new generation to the story world of Peer Gynt. Peer Gynt AS initiated a dialogue with the Norwegian publishing house Aschehoug, and later with game developers at Sarepta Studio in Hamar. This led to a