Icelandic
Puppet theatre
In 1954 The Icelandic Puppet Theatre (Íslenska Brúðuleikhúsið) was established Jón E. Guðmundsson (d.2005). He had studied fine arts in Denmark and worked all his life as an art teacher. For many years he travelled every summer and performed his marionette shows in the villages and towns around Iceland, often assisted by Sigríður Hannesdóttir. His plays were mainly directed at young audiences and took their subjects from popular folk tales. Guðmundsson had a little workshop in his cellar and during the winters he carved an amazingly large collection of elaborate string marionettes.
The Pocket Theatre (Sögusvuntan) was founded in 1984 as a solo puppet theatre by Hallveig Thorlacius. Her style, which involves audience participation, has captured a steadily growing audience and she has toured all over Europe, Canada and America, always performing in the language of the audience. In 2008 she was invited as one of seven puppet artists to “share their secrets” in a solo theatre workshop in Finland. In this process the special possibilities of the genre of solo puppetry were analysed and studied.
OGRODNIK (BERND)
Germany, 1961
Trained as a classical musician he started his career in puppetry in 1986 while living in Iceland. He is co-founder and artistic director of Brúðuheimar – World of Puppets - Centre of Puppetry Arts in Borgarnes, Iceland, and Figuren Theater Bernd Ogrodnik.
He actively tours world wide as a solo performer, builder, teacher and lecturer, and back home in Iceland frequently works for The National Theater, The Icelandic Opera and Municipal Theater of Reykjavik.
Brúðuheimar (World of Puppets) Centre for Puppetry Arts the new puppet centre is perhaps the most promising development in puppetry in Iceland. It is located in Borgarnes in the West of Iceland, founded in 2010 by husband and wife team Hildur Jónsdóttir and Bernd Ogrodnik. In a group of historical renovated buildings by the seashore, the Centre features a museum, theatre, café, library and elaborate workshop/studio space for the creation of both theatre and film productions, teaching and conferences. Brúðuheimar hosts a biennial international festival of puppetry.
Lazy Town a television program is one of the most remarkable Icelandic exports , created by Magnus Schewing. Since 2004 this TV series, featuring both actors and puppets originally created by Guðmundur Þór Kárason, has won both recognition and a world-wide audience, winning among many prizes the BAFTA children´s award 2006.
UNIMA Iceland was founded in 1975 with the support of Michael Meschke.
The history of puppetry in Iceland may be said to have started during the Second World War, when a refugee from Nazi Germany, Kurt Zier, an art teacher and puppeteer, founded the Marionette Society (Maríonettufélagið) and staged Goethe's Faust.
These marionettes are now in the possession of The Theatre Museum of Iceland (established in 2003) along with Gudmundsson’s tools and equipment, scenery, stage properties and documents concerning his artistic work. The Theatre Museum regards the Gudmundsson collection as one of its finest treasures and takes every opportunity to show it to the public. www.leikminjasafn.is
In 1968 Kurt Zier returned to teach the puppet art to a group of six people with the purpose of producing puppet plays for the newly established Icelandic Television. Four of them (Bryndís Gunnarsdóttir, Erna Guðmarsdóttir, Hallveig Thorlacius and Helga Steffensen) formed a new theatre group -
Leikbrúðuland (Land of Puppets). In 1973 they were allocated a venue in the heart of Reykjavík, where they performed every weekend, keeping up a high level of activity for 25 years. Leikbrúðuland has toured widely in Europe, participating in festivals, winning awards and critical acclaim. It was a severe blow to Leikbrúðuland and their audience when they lost their venue in 1998.
The Puppet Car (Brúðubíllinn) is the oldest outdoor theatre in Iceland with regular summer performances. Helga Steffensen has been the director of this theatre from 1980 to the present. Helga has been awarded The Knight´s Cross of the Order of the Falcon for her contribution to theatre and children´s culture.
The String Theatre (Strengjaleikhúsið) was founded in 1982 by Messíana Tómasdóttir, when she was chosen Artist of the Year in Reykjavík to present her puppet performance, The Blue Girl. She has developed a style that weaves together contemporary live music and puppet theatre. The String Theatre has commissioned and staged seven modern Icelandic operas as well as other combinations of music and puppetry. With their emphasis on inner rather than outer reality, productions of The String Theatre have travelled widely abroad, both in film and on tour. Messiana has created scenography and costumes for over 80 theatre productions in Iceland, Scandinavia, Europe and USA, and held 15 exhibitions of her art works as well as participating in larger exhibitions. www.messiana.org
The 10 Finger Theatre (Leikhúsið 10 fingur) was founded by Helga Arnalds in 1993. Helga received her puppetry education from Institut del Teatre in Barcelona. She is also educated as a visual artist from the Iceland Academy of the Arts. The 10 Finger Theatre has always transcended artistic disciplines with its integration of visual arts, music and the new media. It was from these sources that Helga Arnalds developed her own special art form of "Visual Theatre" over the years. theatre has performed in Scandinavia, Spain, USA, Canada and Australia.many different distinctions for her work, she won the 1st Prize for the best children’s performance in Iceland 2008, in collaboration with the National Theatre of Iceland.
The Theatre Bakery is a new experimental theatre group in the field of visual and puppet theatre. Its seven members (Eva Signý Berger, Helga Arnalds, Högni Sigurþórsson, Katerina Fojtikova, Karolina Boguslawska and Sigríður Sunna Reynisdóttir) all have backgrounds in different fields of visual arts, theatre design, puppet theatre and literary theory.
Þórhallur Sigurðsson is the most experienced of Icelandic directors in the field of puppet theatre prouctions. He is the artistic director of a childrens theatre stage “Kúlan” in the National Theatre of Iceland where he has produced several puppet theatre productions..
Katrín Þorvaldsdóttir has been prominent in the field of puppet-making for productions in the big theatres. She received her puppetry education from Institut del Teatre in Barcelona and has pariticipated in puppeteerwork with diverse puppetry groups abroad and in Iceland. Katrin has made puppets and masks for various theatrical companies at home and abroad as well as scenography and costume design for theatres and the Opera. She has also held exhibitions of her artwork.
Stefán Jörgen Ágústsson is a special effects artist who makes puppets for films, television and theatres. www.stefanjorgen.com
Puppets have been used for educational purposes in Icelandic schools, where three of UNIMA´s members, Jóhanna Fjóla Ólafsdóttir, Hallveig Thorlacius and Bryndís Gunnarsdóttir, have played a significant role.
UNIMA Iceland was founded in 1975 but after several years of inactivity a new board was elected in the fall of 2007 and has been busy with promoting the art of puppetry in Iceland and reconnecting with the international community of UNIMA, especially with the fellow Nordic countries.
Activities have included the following:
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-Creating this website.
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- Curating and organizing a series of performative lectures in the National Theatre on puppet theatre and related arts.
- Curating and organizing 3 small scale festivals, raising funds for Himalaya Children and UNICEF. There is an ongoing collaboration between UNIMA Iceland and these organizations.
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-Organizing workshops for puppetry and related arts. In August 2009 we invited Petr Matásek to Iceland to do a workshop on design for stage for puppetry. The workshop proved to be a huge success and inspired fruitful collaborations and brought new members to our organization.
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- In March 2011 we invited Nicolas Gousseff to Iceland to lead a workshop called "Le Corps Castelet", where the body of the actor becomes the scenography for his puppet. A technique Gousseff developed for puppeteers, based on his background in Aikido and Decroux mime.
On March 31st - April 3rd 2011 an international puppet festival was held in Iceland, by the Center for Puppet arts (In Icelandic: Brúðuheimar) in Borgarnes. The aim of the Center is to keep this an yearly event from now on. We are very excited and happy to have so many talented puppeteers over for a visit. Please see the schedule for the festival on this website: http://www.bruduheimar.is/en/bip
To celebrate Meschke's 80th birthday and his visit to Iceland, B I P Festival opened a temporary exhibition in the MilkArtHouse (Borgarnes) with puppets and other pieces from Meschke's key performances, shedding a light on his long and fruitful career.
Meschke generously contributed to the founding of UNIMA Iceland in 1976 and we in UNIMA Iceland are proud to be able to honor Meschke on this occasion.
More information on Meschke: http://www.bruduheimar.is/en/bip/MICHAEL_MESCHK
- The Reykjavík Maritime Museum has started collaboration with puppet theatre groups the 10 finger Theatre and the Pocket Theatre , introducing the Icelandic Sagas through innovative puppet performances in Icelandic and English.
There is still much work to be done to promote the art of puppetry in Iceland, but these are indeed exciting and vibrant times where puppetry is getting more visible and approachable.
We are happy to be a part of the international puppetry community again and hope to contribute to further development and appreciation of the art.
