To Peer Gynt, the world is his for the taking. He fancies himself a brilliant, charming rogue and a self-made man. In reality, he is selfish, egotistical and uses others for his own gain. He has been likened to the trickster, the embodiment of the Norwegian psyche and the essence of American capitalism. Thankfully for audiences’ sake, he is simply the title character in the most famous play by Norway’s most famous playwright, Henrik Ibsen. The play, also Peer Gynt, springs from the epic-poem-slash-verse play that trolls between what is happening on stage and what is happening in Peer Gynt’s head.

So, can this play be tamed and can audiences find something to like about this rather unlikable fellow? The very likeable Kelly Kleiman and Jonathan Abarbanel, Eight Forty-Eight’s Dueling Critics, shared their opinion of Peer Gynt.

The Polarity Ensemble Theater performs Peer Gynt at the DCA Theater’s Storefront Theater through Dec. 18.