Hrafnhildur Hagalín (IS), Steinunn Knútsdóttir (IS)
Room 408
The House of Ideas
Saturday 31st October, 22.00
Room 408 is a brand new Icelandic web theatre destined to explore the web as a performance space. The opening work, also called Room 408, is an adventurous sound and web experience with multiple interactive possibilities. The web play is based on an original story by Hrafnhildur Hagalín and Steinunn Knútsdóttir and further developed by them together with three actors through improvisation. The web theatre is destined to entertain audiences all over Iceland and Icelanders abroad, who will be able to enjoy this new theatre experience from the safety of their homes
Room 408 – An interactive live performance launching a new web theatre @ www.herbergi408.is Room 408 is an internet theatre experience – a piece which takes place in real, as well as virtual space. A Finnish criminal expert has been asked to look into a suspicious accident in the Vestfjords in Iceland. The investigation, which unravels a tragicomic family-story of mutual deceit, crime and illusion, will be performed by a Finnish crime expert situated in Helsinki and an Icelandic police officer who together will interrogate the characters via a live performance over the internet.
Hrafnhildur Hagalín is an Icelandic playwright living and working in Reykjavík. She graduated from the Reykjavík College of Music as a classical guitarist and later studied Literature and Theatre at the University of Sorbonne, Paris-IV. Her first play, “I am the Maestro” (Icelandic Critics´ Award 1991, Nordic Theatre Prize 1992)has been translated into twelve languages and produced in many countries around the world. Among Hrafnhildur´s other plays are “Easy now, Electre”(nominated for the Icelandic Theatre Prize “Gríman” and the Nordic Theatre Prize 2001) “North”, “Salka Valka” (an adaption of Laxness´ novel), a television play, and “Loners”(2009) – a cycle of six short radio plays currently being broadcast by the Icelandic State Broadcasting System.
Steinunn Knútsdóttir trained as an actor in Denmark, and studied theatre direction in the UK and Russia. Steinunn has worked with various theatre groups as a director and a performer in Denmark, England and Iceland. Steinunn has mainly focused on progressive, cutting edge theatre, crossing the borders between disiplines, participating in many research projects. Steinunn is currently based in Iceland where she works as a theatre director and drama lecturer at the Icelandic Academy of the Arts. Her recent work has played in Reykjavik, Copenhagen, New York and Vienna.