Iceland review - 2019, Page 104

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Iceland Review
The Akureyri Theatre Company is one of the oldest
in the country. It’s first iteration was founded in 1907,
though the company went professional in 1973. Since
then, it’s been the only Icelandic professional theatre
company outside the Reykjavík area. Its home is the
stately Samkomuhús building in Akureyri where on
most days, if you sneak backstage, you’ll find Marta
Nordal, the company’s director. Marta recently relo-
cated to Akureyri from Reykjavík, but she has a history
with the company, having acted with them years ago.
A few years ago, financial hardships in the company
had people talking about disbanding. The company
survived, but Marta still had her work cut out for her
when she accepted her new job. At the end of her first
season, all talk of disbanding the company has ceased
and Marta sees big things in the company’s future.
Talking to Marta, it’s hard not to be inspired by her
energetic drive and enthusiasm for her work. “We’ve
just finished our run of Cabaret and Gallsteinar Afa
Gissa (Grandpa Gissi’s Gallstones), an original chil-
dren’s musical. I’m proud of these shows. You have to
set the mark high and take risks, you can’t think small.
You have to believe in what you’re doing.”
Turning down the noise
Two thirds of the nation live in the Reykjavík area, so
naturally, cultural institutions that rely on an audience
congregate on the southwest corner of Iceland. While
the inhabitants of Akureyri are fewer than 20,000,
being outside the capital area has its advantages.
According to Marta, “Being outside the capital area
makes us unique.” Indeed, the company’s shows often
draw crowds from all over the country. In addition,
being outside the hustle and bustle of the capital area
means that there’s more calm and time to focus on the
art, both for the audience and the actors. “I remember
that from the time I was an actor with the company.
You’re not doing anything else. It’s easy to build a
special atmosphere that you can’t get in Reykjavík.” For
Marta personally, a recent transplant from Reykjavík,
living in Akureyri has increased her quality of life. “All
of a sudden, being in Reykjavík feels overwhelming, all
the stress and the traffic. For me, being surrounded by
nature, with the mountains and the ski resorts 10 min-
utes away, and the calm and peacefulness of the people
– that’s quality of life.”
Professional standards
“Being disconnected from the artistic community in
the capital can also be challenging. You can’t have as
much of a back and forth with your artistic colleagues
as you could have in the city. You’re more artistically
isolated.” It’s not only other actors or directors either,
the four-hour drive to Reykjavík logistically makes it
more difficult to be included in the cultural conversa-
tion. “Critics, for instance. You don’t have as much of
access to people because it costs money to get here.
You can’t force private media companies to send critics
to our shows.
Putting on
a show in
Reykjavík
means you have
access to all
the media and
you’re included
in the conver-
sation, but up
here you only
have a claim to
media run by
public funds.”
In
Reykjavík, you
can compare
the theatres
to each other,
the big tradi-
tional ones to
the smaller
grassroots
operations.
The Akureyri
Theatre
Company is
instead com-
pared to its
neighbouring
amateur the-
atre compa-
nies. “In a small
community,
there’s only a small step between professionalism and
amateurism. People don’t really differentiate between
them,” Marta says. This means that you have to work
extra hard to show people why what you do in a profes-
sional theatre is different. “You need to figure out how
to show people that what you do is on the next level. It
makes you think about how to show people that what
you’re doing is on a higher standard. If people can’t see
a difference, then I’m not doing my job right.”

" You need culture
to attract people to
living here. Who wants
to move to a town or a
city without culture?"