Other Projects
Own Two Feet
A puppet play for the youngest audience
Along with my studies at Wimbledon, I have worked on building my career in Iceland as a designer. Two years ago I formed the theatre company Miðnætti (Midnight) together with Agnes Wild director and actress, and Sigrún Harðardóttir composer and violinist. We have worked on several productions together, and now we are developing a puppet play for the youngest audience, called Own two feet. The play is devised and will be, interpreted without words, featuring puppetry and live music.The puppetry is based on the Japanese Bunraku technique were three puppeteers manipulate the puppet and are visible at all times. All of the objects that appear on stage will magically transform into something else and therefore have a new meaning, for example an old pair of boots and a jumper turn into a dog. I design the show and make puppets, Agnes directs, and Sigrún composes the music. We will premiere in Iceland in Tjarnarbio theatre in April 2017 and hopefully travel with the show in 2017.
In February we held a workshop in Iceland with the cast where Sean Garratt from Blind Summit theatre company lead few days of technique rehearsals and developing of the show with us. We also arranged a two-day open puppetry workshop with Sean in association with Assitej in Iceland.
Photos from workshops with Sean Garratt in February.
Videos from workshops in October 2015 and February 2016. Password: puppet
Design in progress.
Workshop in Oslo with Spindrift theatre
In the beginning of February I went to Oslo with the Nordic theatre company Spindrift Theatre. I got to know the company when I worked with them in Iceland last year on their immersive and participatory production Caroll:Berserk. They have recently been leading a series of workshops which they call “The Performer and the Self” in collaboration with European drama schools and art/theatre venues. They invited me to come to Oslo and lead the designing part of their workshop there.
Sunnyside Road
In March I did some collage work for marketing material for the music band Sunnyside Road.
Woman of the mountain
I am working on a design for a monologue play based on the life of an Icelandic woman who was born in 1879. Her life was far from ordinary. She was born in a rural farm in the west of Iceland, but 19 years old, she sailed to Denmark where she studied and worked at hotels and restaurants. After few years, she moved back to Iceland and opened her own restaurant in Reykjavík. She was a woman who people noticed, and talked about. She had three children with three different men, and always went her own way. The play covers her life story, from childhood to an old woman. It will be shown at several different locations around the country this summer, so the set has to be easy to transport.
I have come up with an idea of the set, where I would build seven wooden boxes, one big and six smaller. The boxes would then be filled with all the props and costumes that would be used in the show. The actress is alone on the stage the whole time, so she would never leave the stage, but as she tells the story, she moves the boxes around, and takes up different costumes and props.
