“Ibsen. Recycle”

The play Ibsen. Recycle is a creative interpretation of Peer Gynt and Brand, two famous plays by the great Norwegian playwright. Sentenced to death for a grave crime, the protagonist does not feel remorse; he is confident that God will embrace him as a hero. The government develops a new technology that makes criminals come to realize their guilt. The protagonist is given a special serum that conjures up strange visions in his mind.

He encounters ghosts of the past and relives his old mistakes. He makes a sacrifice of his loved ones to the Idea again. The memories and dreams he plunges into increasingly resemble nightmares. A religious fanatic like Ibsen’s Brand, he will stop at nothing for the sake of his faith, but he turns out to be Peer Gynt: an egoist and a sinner who lies both to others and to himself.

Having traveled a long way through dreams and hurtful memories, the hero understands that he was once loved and that there was happiness in store for him, but he passed his happiness by and missed it. This is when the tragic end comes.

The ending of the play gives its answer to the eternal question of the rightfulness of human judgement. What is mercy and where do its boundaries lie?