As part of my role at the New Nordics Festival in early 2020, directing Matthías Tryggvi Haraldsson’s play Refuge, Cut the Cord supported me to visit Reykjavik on a culture trip. This is a blog about who I met during my time their and what I found out…
Friðrik Friðriksson – Tjárnabio / Association of Independent Theaters in Iceland
My first meeting was with Friðrik Friðriksson at the theatre where he is General Manager – Tjárnabio. It is in the centre of Reykjavik, near to the busier tourist streets but placed opposite a body of water so there is a feeling of tranquillity as you approach the building. Friðrik took me into the studio at the beginning of our meeting, showing me the 180-seat black box theatre that also doubles up as a rehearsal space.
As the foremost independent venue in the city, I was interested in the programming of the theatre, its place in the wider ecology of the theatre/arts community in Reykjavik and also its funding picture. Tjárnabio stages 10 shows a year with no more than 4 week runs. It operates on a three-year funding cycle which supports its staffing.
There are two pots of money in Iceland – project based and one for running costs. Each year there are 20 projects (ish) that are funded – as the number of projects funded has gone up, the money given out has lessened as the pot of money itself has stayed the same. The morning I was there, a new theatre company called Reykjavik Ensemble International were rehearsing a show that Friðrik later told me was a late addition to the programme in order to fill a gap – he made clear throughout our meeting his emphasis on trying to platform new artists and companies and despite his understated nature, his passion and understanding for a vibrant arts scene in Reykjavik was clear.
Friðrik talked me through some notable independent companies and artists. Leikhópurinn Lotta are a theatre company who specialise in outdoor and children’s shows. They have been working together for 13 years. He mentioned “The Freezer”, a hostel/arts centre on the west peninsula of Iceland – self-described as “the cultural crown of West Iceland”. It is a recycled and renovated fish factory that now operates as an arts and cultural space combined with a hostel. The theatre performances are staged in English and it is the only cultural centre in West Iceland so holds a fascinating place in the wider cultural sector of the country. Friðrik also mentions a play called Rocky which was a play staged by Vignir Rafn Valthorsson at Tjárnabio that originated in Denmark about the rise of the alt-right and a lack of perception/understanding. It sounds fascinating and before I meet Vignir two days later, the production is mentioned twice to me in passing as one of the standout shows from Iceland in the past year or two. Vignir is going to send me on a video of the English translated version.
In Iceland audience attendance is the highest in the world per capita (Friðrik jokes that Iceland is the highest in the world of everything per capita!) although later in my trip I do get the sense that Iceland faces the same battle as UK theatre-makers and organisations of attracting audiences without financial and marketing muscle – for example, Vignir mentions to me his struggle in getting bums on seat for Rocky, despite its widespread praise. Friðrik tells me that the National Theatre offers a season ticket of four shows which most audiences take them up on and is on an upward trend, more about that later…
Hafliði Arngrímsson and Pétur Ármannsson – City Theatre Reykjavik
The City Theatre, Reykjavik lies slightly on the outskirts of the centre. I was supposed to meet the dramaturg Hafliði, who has worked there for around two decades, and was fortunate enough to also meet Pétur who wasn’t originally on my itinerary but was drafted in by Hafliði to join the meeting with his firmer grasp of English. This was especially fortunate as Pétur is the director of Club Romantica which I saw the following evening! It was literally Pétur’s second day in the job as he joined from a freelance basis to work full time at the theatre as a dramaturg/director.
I heard from other people I met that the City Theatre was currently filling in the gaps that the National Theatre hadn’t been fulfilling, specifically in terms of artist development and more experimental work. I found this interesting, particularly as Magnus Geir Thordarson was formerly the Artistic Director here before moving to broadcasting and now back to theatre as AD of the National Theatre of Iceland beginning in January 2020. I will hear later that hopes are high the Magnus’ new leadership at the National Theatre will act as a catalyst and have the same transformative effect he seemingly had at the City Theatre.
The City Theatre has three different spaces an in truth it reminded me of London’s National Theatre with its flexible auditoria and modern foyer with restaurant and lots of space to mill about in. The theatre’s programme includes 2 co-productions with external companies. They programme different types of shows from new work to classics to musicals – Uncle Vanya was playing in rep whilst I was there and they had just finished a large scale production of the RSC’s Matilda adaptation in its main space. The City Theatre also programmes events such as talks and lectures, in Hafliði’s words ‘trying to platform conversations about now’, for example a lecture about climate change. There are 2/3 new plays each year not including devised pieces or adaptations. Every three years or so there is a night of three short plays by emerging playwrights – Matthías took part in one with another emerging playwright Þórdís Helgadóttir who I also met during my trip. It struck me as a relatively infrequent period of time to stage a new writing night although there are other ways the theatre supports new artists – they run a scheme for an emerging playwright to join the theatre on attachment, Þórdís is currently that playwright, and also offer rehearsal space to companies and artists for space and sharings after a four week period.
Hafliði and Pétur were extremely welcoming and gifted me programmes for current shows as well as tickets. They also allowed me to enter the technical rehearsal of their upcoming production of Pinnochio, I belived to be titled Lorrie, directed by Ágústa Skúladóttir. I was only able to stay for less than an hour but it did not feel dissimilar to a UK tech although did it feel more relaxed! The set up looked similar in style to what might be expected on a small scale children’s show in UK (it was in the “Little Hall” theatre) with actor-musicians underscoring the piece and projection on the set evoking different imagery of the surrounding environment.
Gréta Kristín Ómarsdóttir – National Theatre of Iceland (Þjóðleikhúsið)
Gréta is a dramaturg at the National Theatre. Gréta runs her own company – Stertabenda – for which she won Best Newcomer at the Icelandic Theatre Awards in 2017. Gréta is relatively new to her role. She is interested in gender studies and the comparisons between the queer community and Brechtian Theatre – she cites comparisons between Epic Theatre and Drag.
At the National Theatre there is a black box studio dedicated to children’s theatre, in a building separate but across the street to the main building. Gréta describes there as being a “shift” in the theatre’s programming in recent years between adaptations and a focus on platforming new work and new writing. There is one “open” production a year – what they describe as “open” essentially means a mass appeal accessible production that will get bums on seats. Two years ago the Icelandic government changed the law about the National Theatre – something like a charter – changing the old focus on productions including ballet to one that has much more freedom for programmers and ADs to focus on different types of theatre. There is a loft space in the main building that that is currently being developed into a lab space, it is currently a puppet theatre for children.
Gréta spoke about Magnus’ new reign at the theatre still being in its infancy but the “shift” she speaks about being one that has long lasting effects on the culture of Icelandic theatre with both main theatres in Reykjavik soon benefitting on both Magnus’ ability to pull in large audiences and also his focus on platforming new talent. Currently playing the main space at the National Theatre is a production of Network that was recently on at the National Theatre, London directed by Ivo Van Hove and adapted by Lee Hall. I sensed in Reykjavik a real pronounced distinction between our culture in its focus on children’s theatre, with both the National and City theatres clearly making regular space for young people’s work – you don’t and you wouldn’t see this at the National Theatre or the Young Vic (what I see as comparable venues). I guess it is something to do with there being less theatres that have their own identity compared to London meaning the few theatres there are need to ensure that children’s theatre is catered for but it definitely felt and I sensed from Gréta that children’s theatre is heralded and supported by the main theatre buildings in Reykjavik.
Jón Magnús Arnarsson – Playwright
Jón is a playwright, slam poet and founded the Icelandic Fringe Festival. He is from an theatre dynasty in Iceland with both his parents being celebrated and recognisable actors and his brother, Thorleifur Örn Arnarsson, is the Director of Drama of the internationally reputable Berlin theatre the Volksbühne.
Jón is a fascinating character and person – spending 10 years in self-proclaimed wilderness during his 20s before returning to his familial and familiar background of theatre. He is going to send me the English translation of one of his plays – Skin Deep, which was originally staged at the City Theatre in November 2018.
Jón is now turning his attention to translation – his brother Thorleifur is coming over from Berlin to direct Romeo and Juliet at the City Theatre in March 2021. Jón is drawn to the comedic and lighter side of subject matters when performing his slam poetry, and it is this intricate word play that draws him to Shakespeare and why his brother thinks he will be a good fit as translator. When asked about the process of translation he said he would be taking a relatively fluid approach and ensuring clarity in Icelandic first and then stay as close to the Shakespeare meaning from there.
Jón co-founded the Icelandic Fringe Festival off his own back a few years ago as a venture he threw himself head into and saw as a way of both supporting emerging Icelandic talent and also inviting cross-cultural collaboration and connection. He very openly admitted he was doing this blindly and with little skill or experience in events management but quickly got the festival off the ground and handed it off to somebody more experienced who runs it today. He talked about the Nordic Fringe Network which is a network of fringe festival across the Nordic countries which can support companies and artists to go to the different countries on a cohesive and supportive platform rather than on an ad-hoc or individual basis.
Þórdís Helgadóttir – Writer
Þórdís is a writer of novellas, poems and more recently plays. She is currently on the emerging playwright scheme at the City Theatre. Þórdís has been funded with an artist salary for six months which supported her to write a new novella. Funnily enough, Þórdís also did a performance in IKEA smuggling messages into the store in a subversive attempt at lifestyle advice. Also coincidentally – although not so much in a small artistic community like Reykjavik – Þórdís also participated in the new writing night at City Theatre that Matthías did a couple of years ago that I talked about earlier. Þórdís also mentioned Rocky as a show she has loved. Þórdís came from an interesting background of living in America for a while and studying a PHD in philosophy and spoke about the support of City Theatre has been vital in finishing a new play and being supported as an artist.
Steinunn Hildigunnur Knúts Önnudóttir – Dean of Performance Arts, Iceland University of the Arts
Steinunn is the Dean of Performance Arts at Iceland University of the Arts and picked me up from one of the campus buildings when I went to the wrong one! And took me to their new dance studios in downtown Reykjavik where we sat and had an inspiring conversation. Whilst in this country there is seemingly constant lip service about arts education and performing arts education in drama schools/conservatoires, Steinunn was being, living and implementing the change I want to see.
Steinunn described her job as being a supervisor, or an enabler, not a teacher. She is trying (seemingly successfully) to remove the hierarchy and patriarchy from teaching in educational institutions, and therefore its surrounding communities and ultimately the world. She described her students as arriving as artists – they don’t become artists on the course. There is an emphasis on collaboration across her faculties. She questions and probes her students, she doesn’t give them the answers.
In terms of assessment, Steinunn has tried not to enforce her or her staff’s opinions and instead have a group dialogue or one on one (with a third-party present) which she described as being more powerful. They constitute questions from the teachers (or supervisors) and not telling them what they thought, as is conventional, but trying to understand the student’s perspective and lead from there. This then leads to self-reflection and self-evaluation so the students can determine where they want to go and figure out the answers about their path themselves, therefore gifting them autonomy and cultivating self-dependence. In other words, what it is like in the real world!!
Steinunn started 9 years ago – she got rid of grades, removed the idea of the teacher as a judge, removed the agenda from the teacher and their actions. All these ideas really resonate, particularly coming from an institution in Scotland from which I know that I was the victim – alongside many other peers – of an agenda-led department as well as being graded throughout my time as a student on performances and other creative exercises. It is pass or fail at the IUA. There is written feedback from a committee at the end of a process – acting as a kind of status report, other than this it is dialogue. Removing grades means that the focus moves from number to what they are actually trying to do/doing. Grades are like stars in reviews or likes on social media.
Steinunn thinks we should use our resources better and question power structures – for example, Steinunn as the Dean does not have a private office anymore. Inclusivity, collaboration and sustainability are some other buzzwords that were in the conversation but in short I think Steinunn is a brilliant progressive thinker who, on the surface at least, is doing really interesting things in terms of performing arts education that feels like leaps and bounds beyond anything yet achieved in UK.
Vignir Rafn Valþórsson – Director and Theatre-maker
I met Vignir during my last night in Reykjavik, having heard a lot about Rocky throughout my trip. As mentioned earlier, during this conversation Vignir spoke about the struggle to get audiences in to see show despite its critical acclaim and positive audience reception.
One of things I noticed during my trip was the recurrence of Icelandic theatres taking over work from the UK for their own productions – the National Theatre was staging Network whilst I was there and the City Theatre had just closed Dennis Kelly’s Matilda, for example. Vignir, as an independent director, demonstrated the same urge/instinct although it was unclear if he was following this trend or part of it establishing. What was clear was that Vignir had an impressive handle on what was going on in the UK fringe. For example, he had pitched Crocodile Fever by Meghan Tyler to the City and National Theatre which had only debuted at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh during the Fringe in August and similarly he had considered pitching the previous year’s Traverse hit, Ulster American by David Ireland, and demonstrated knowledge of Ireland’s other work like Cypress Avenue.
Interestingly, Vignir mentioned a programme on radio – 3 “normal” people invited to see a theatre show and discuss it with a critic. I thought this was a simple but remarkable way of breaking down barriers between traditional and non-traditional theatre-goers.
In Iceland they only stopped doing blackface 10 years ago, people don’t understand why. Millennials definitely are offended but there is a generational divide on the issue. This obviously different from the UK but strikes me as so out dated compared to the progressive nature of the country and theatre industry that I had until that point encountered. Naturally, Iceland is not as diverse a country as the UK so this goes some way to explaining the point but it was interesting nonetheless to hear Vignir speak about the issue.
Other Reflections
· Both main theatres have repertory acting ensembles – a cultural shift from the UK where these are a dying breed. In Iceland at the City Theatre and National, there is a mixture of part time and full time members of the rep
· There was a very similar and comparable “vibe” between Reykjavik’s theatre community and Glasgow. Despite the latter having a bigger population, there is a tangible sense of a connected and supportive and vibrant eco-system of artists, companies and organisations trying to figure it all out! And also a similar sense of an independent and alternative artistic texture that makes up the overall sense of the city.
· As mentioned, there are definite crossovers in productions between the UK and Iceland and it seems theatres in Reykjavik cherry pick the best/most exposed projects to fill their auditoriums with previously known works.
· Matthías was extremely welcoming and we had a great time chewing over the play in IKEA, going to his local pool to bathe and having drinks and food. He joined me when I went to see Club Romantica at the City Theatre. He also introduced me to his friend and theatre-maker Adolf Smári Unnarsson who offered me an insight into his fascination with German theatre – he visits Berlin several times a year to see theatre.
· Club Romantica was a joy – even though I didn’t have the opportunity to read the English translation beforehand! It would not have looked out of place in a fringe venue in the UK and I say this because of its direct address storytelling, live music and projection to aid the visual language of the piece. In fact it held very similar elements to my own work. People had raved about Club Romantica so it was great to see it – they mentioned it and Rocky has two of the best shows in the past couple of years. There was a quiet, understated nature to the delivery of Friðgeir Einarsson (a former performer with 16 lovers) which drew the audience in and I was struck by the way they stayed engaged to this style and there was a warm reception at the end.
