Watch on Soap2day. Based on the dramatic poem of the same name by Henrik Ibsen. Music by Edvard Grieg. The poem takes place in the first half of the 19th century and is set in Norway, on the Moroccan coast of the Mediterranean, in the Sahara Desert, and in a madhouse in Cairo. The main character is Peer Gynt, the son of Jon Gynt, who was once wealthy and respected, but later became an alcoholic and lost all his money.