Mark Rylance, who will star in the title role, will be joined by Matthew Amendt, Richard S. Iglewski, Jim Lichtscheidl, Michelle O’Neill, Jonas Goslow, Isabell Monk O’Connor, Tracey Maloney, Bill McCallum and Tyson Forbes.

The Peer Gynt ensemble features Maha Chehlaoui, Miriam Silverman, Marisa Jacobus, Jake Speikers, Richard Ooms, Catherine Johnson Justice, Phyllis Wright, Mac Rasmus and Alexis Gaither.

"He is arrogant, manipulative, and dishonest, yet we can't take our eyes off him," press notes state. "He is Peer Gynt. Bold, raucous and satirically funny, this charming fantasy play captures the misadventures of the charismatic Peer Gynt on a journey to find his place in the world."

Creative duties for Peer Gynt are handled by Laura Hopkins (set and costume design), Stan Pressner (lighting designer), Scott W. Edwards (sound design), Claire Van Kampen (composer), Carla Steen (dramaturg), Lucinda Holshue (voice and dialect coach) and Marcela Lorca (movement).

Former Shakespeare Globe associate director Tim Carroll directs the Guthrie staging, running Jan. 12-March 2, 2008, with an official opening Jan. 18. The Guthrie is located at 818 South 2nd Street (at Chicago Avenue) in downtown Minneapolis. For tickets call (877) 44 STAGE or visit www.guthrietheater.org. *

The Guthrie Theater, founded in 1963, is "an American center for theatre performance, production, education and professional training." The Twin Cities' based Frank Theatre, founded in 1989, is a "professional theatre company committed to producing unique work which stretches the skills of the artists who create the work while simultaneously challenging the everyday perceptions of the audience through the exploration of ideas and issues of social, political and/or cultural concern."