Reykjavík Grapevine - jul 2021, Qupperneq 12

Grow That Frin!e Out
The Grapevine’s picks for this year’s Reykjavík
Fringe Festival
Words: Hannah Jane Cohen Photos: Patrik Ontkovic, Kirsti Urpa & Provided By Fringe
After a COVID-friendly 2020 edi-
tion, Reykjavík Fringe is back with
a vaccine-friendly 2021 program.
Yup, we’re talking in-person
shows—a heck of a lot of them! For
those not in the know, the Fringe
Festival is an experimental theatre
festival that allows those making
non-traditional performances to
get a main slot and shine.
This year features a wide plethora
of entertainment, from burlesque
to cat comedy to aerial extrava-
ganzas and more. While picking
shows felt a bit like choosing a fa-
vourite child, here are a few of the
Grapevine’s not-to-miss events. As
always, an official Grapevine panel
will present our annual Grapevine
Award to our favourite act at the
close of the festival. Let the games
begin!
Storm: The Clown On The
Fifth Floor
July 8-10th at 19:00 - Bar Ananas
Meet Storm Dunder: a non-binary
multi-media artist whose works
seek to showcase the most glorious,
grandiose and grotesque parts of
existence. Now, journey with them
to The Fifth Floor, a topsy-turvy
land residing in the worlds between
reality and fiction. “‘The Clown on
the Fifth Floor’ tells the story of a
creature that just wants to know
if they were the hero, the villain,
or just a child,” Storm writes, ex-
plaining that the show features a
melange of musical arrangements
and sharp words.
Along with the performance,
they’ll be dropping two songs at
the festival—”Flowers” and “Look
at Me”—both of which will be fea-
tured in the show. Each track ex-
plores post-traumatic stress disor-
der and the survival tactics used by
The Clown to deal with
such a debilitating ill-
ness.
If you’re still not
convinced by Storm’s
words, know that the
show was awarded the
Nordic Fringe Net-
work Award in 2019
and the Grand Prix at
last year’s Reykjavík
Fringe Festival, where
it was presented digi-
tally, so it’s gotta be
good! You can explore
the world of Storm
Dunder pre-Clown on
their Instagram (@
stormdunder) or on
YouTube, Spotify and
more.
Sheep Music
July 3rd - 17:00 -
Árbæjarsafn
The word ‘Kvöldvaka’
is an old one. It refers back to those
idyllic agrarian times when Ice-
landers would spend their nights
huddled together in someone’s liv-
ing room, just entertaining each
other with whatever they had.
Someone would play guitar; others
would chime in with their voices as
they knitted a sweater. The beer and
the good vibes would be flowing.
Remember those cold nights?
The kvöldvaka is still achievable
nowadays, but often a bit less per-
sonal as there is inevitably some
patron posting all of it online to
prove to their “haters” that their
life is more fun than theirs. Not that
we’d do that. No sir.
Now add to that the age-old ques-
tion, “What kind of music would a
sheep enjoy?” and you’ve got one
of Fringe’s most eccentric and ex-
citing shows this year, ‘Sheep Mu-
sic’ by Hafdís Bjarnadóttir and the
Passepartout Duo, which consists
of Nicoletta Favari and Christopher
Salvito. At the lovely Árbæjar Folk
Museum, the group will create their
own kvöldvaka as they serenade
Iceland’s prized animals—sheep
and humans—with
a selection of sheep-
approved tunes .
They’ve spent the
last months travel-
ling around to dif-
ferent herds, play-
ing music to see
what got those sheep
hooves grooving, so
they’re experts in
this emerging genre.
Real sheep, of
course, will be in
attendance at the
concert, so please
be mindful that the
concert is for them,
not you. You are in-
vited to join in the
festivities, nonethe-
less. If you miss it
at Fringe, the group
w i l l b e t o u r i n g
across Iceland and
the Faroes this sum-
mer entertaining our
furry friends.
Mr. Magic: Alexander
Smith
July 4th, 6th & 8th at 17:00, July 10th
at 15:00 - Fringe Hub
Oh, you thought we didn’t have any-
thing for the kids? How silly you
must feel! No, we at the Grapevine
understand that the tots have to be
entertained while you watch some
risqué burlesque.
Mr. Magic—a magician—will be
journeying to our fair island to offer
special magic classes tailored for
kids ages five and up. Each one-
hour lesson will teach one special
trick and the ins-and-outs of how
it’s done and also how to perform it.
That said, at the end of the lesson,
they will have to take Mr. Magic’s
magic oath: #1 Practice practice
practice! #2 Never tell the secret.
#3 Always clean your room. See?
Not only will your kid learn how to
impress their friends, but they will
also become better people. Win-
win.
Magic is one of the oldest art
forms. Back in the old days, troupes
would travel from city to city in co-
lourful wagons, entertaining the
masses with sleight of hand and
hypnotism. Ok, we don’t exactly
know if that’s true, but it happens
in movies, so we’re going with it.
As times changed, Houdini mas-
tered the art of escape and Penn &
Teller added a comedic edge. Then,
of course, Harry Potter appeared.
It’s unclear if Mr. Magic will help
the kids practice their Patronus,
though—we’ll have to get back to
you.
The Dreamer by St. Edgar
July 10th - 22:00 - Tjarnarbíó
International burlesque/drag
superstar St. Edgar is here for a
50-minute one-man fantasy ‘The
Dreamer.’ The show—which actu-
ally will take place on the Saint’s
birthday—is about a drag per-
former who dedicates their life to
beauty, glamour and art (cue the
song from ‘Party Monster’). Inspir-
ing that quest, though, is a person
simply searching for self-worth
and acceptance. While you might
think of drag shows as places where
dolled-up queens shimmy to “Be-
lieve,” this one goes beyond any-
thing you might see on a certain
TV show. No, it’s a reflection on the
dark side of the search for beauty
and perfection—an emotional roll-
ercoaster about the pitfalls of being
a performer.
“The Dreamer is a show that
started to melt in my head two
years ago. It’s a story that lies close
to my heart. Some parts of it are in-
spired by my own life experiences,”
St. Edgar told the Grapevine. “The
show aspires to spread awareness
of mental illness and self love. In
today's society we tend to drown
our feelings until we can’t control
them anymore. With that said, pre-
pare for an extremely physical and
emotional show.”
We also must stress that this
is a 50-minute show—how does a
burlesque/drag performer do a solo
show for that long? Think of the
stamina!
Culture
“Real sheep, of
course, will be in
attendance at the
concert, so please
be mindful that the
concert is for them,
not for you.”
12The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 07— 2021
Now that's some fringe
Storm Dunder © 2021, Kirsti Urpa
Mr. Magic doing some magic
St. Edgar