PAULA CLIFFORD reviews Peer Gynt at the Oxford Playhouse. It takes a certain leap of imagination and no little courage to make additions to a play which more usually is subject to extensive cutting.

Elizabeth Keirnan and Matthew Ashcroft as Peer Gynt and Solveig

The student production of Ibsen's Peer Gynt by Skien Productions -- named after the playwright's birthplace -- which runs at the Playhouse until Saturday, has taken precisely this bold step. Christopher Fry's translation has been abridged, bringing the performance time down to about three hours, but director Johannes Leistner has added a masterstroke in supplementing Ibsen's original with a chorus.

Their function is to represent the inner workings of Gynt's mind by providing a tangible representation of his mental progress, and so adding clarity and direction to a script which can otherwise appear disjointed and occasionally obscure.

The main burden of this demanding play falls squarely on Peer. Matthew Ashcroft gives an accomplished, well-rounded account of this role, as he moves from being an over-imaginative roguish peasant to a wealthy entrepreneur who sails to the east in search of his own identity.

He is particularly well supported by Rebecca Leek as his mother, Aase, and also by Elizabeth Kiernan as Solveig, the girl waiting for Peer back home.

The 15-strong chorus includes undergraduates and young people from the Oxford Stagecoach School.

While their movements are carefully choreographed, perhaps the most telling moment is their total silence and stillness at the point at which Peer assumes an elaborate costume reflecting the trappings of wealth, an unspoken comment on the folly of his ways.

They are also a useful asset in manipulating the stark, jigsaw-style scenery, where swiftness is vital in maintaining the play's momentum.

This is a marvellous opportunity for anyone who has not experienced Grieg's music in its stage context to do so. It is further enhanced by some pleasing lighting effects and distinguished by the commitment of its cast.

But for me, one of its outstanding features is the work of the director, who is hoping to follow his Oxford studies with four years' theatre training in his native Germany. So if you have an interest in European theatre watch out for his name to hit the headlines sometime around 2009!