2018 - theatre - choreograph & performer

Svartlyng is a pitch-black Icelandic comedy by Guðmundur Brynjólfsson, produced by the theatre collective GRAL. The play premiered at Tjarnarbíó on 21 September.

The story centers on the powerful Svartlyng family, who — according to a tongue-in-cheek “constitutional explanation” at the University of Iceland’s Law Department — control all three branches of government: the courts, the cabinet, and the parliament. What goes unspoken is that the Party fills every public office in the family’s name… because the Party belongs to the Svartlyng clan.

As the government begins to wobble and scandal looms, the esteemed Minister Hermann Svartlyng hires a window cleaner to “prove” total transparency in his ministry. But keeping corruption from rising to the surface requires more drastic measures — heads must roll, hands must fall, and the Svartlyng family protects its own… just not each other.

Svartlyng is a brand-new, blood-soaked Icelandic farce — sharp, absurd, and outrageously funny.

It is GRAL’s fifth production, following 21 Missing, the Gríman Award–winning With Horns on His Head, The End of the Universe, and The Oath.

Performers:

Sveinn Ólafur Gunnarsson
Sólveig Guðmundsdóttir
Benedikt Karl Gröndal
Þór Tulinius
Emilía Bergsdóttir
Valgerður Rúnarsdóttir

Playwright: Guðmundur Brynjólfsson
Director: Bergur Þór Ingólfsson
Set & Costume Design: Eva Vala Guðjónsdóttir
Lighting Design: Magnús Arnar Sigurðsson
Movement Direction: Valgerður Rúnarsdóttir
Executive Producer: Sólveig Guðmundsdóttir
Public Relations: Alexía Björg Jóhannesdóttir
Stage Manager: Hafliði Emil Barðason

Svartlyng was produced with support from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture and the Artists’ Salary Fund.