Gríma - a Faeroese theatre and theatre organisation

Waiting for a national theatre

"Estragon: Who?
Vladimir: What?
Estragon: I don't understand a thing...
(pause)"

 From Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett, 1953.

BY KIM SIMONSEN

The works of Holberg and other playwrights have been performed on the Faeroe Islands for more than 200 years now, and there is great breadth in modern Faeroese theatre. Since the 1960s everything from Beckett, Shakespeare, Chekov and Strindberg to modern Faeroese drama has been performed on the islands. There have also been a number of ambitious adaptations of the novels of William Heinesen in impressive productions at Nordens Hus in Thorshavn, directed by the grand old man of Faeroese theatre, Eyðun Johannessen.

As William Heinesen once commented so humorously, the Faeroes are also a paradise for amateur dramatics. The best of the amateur companies have performed a great number of good plays, including works by Dario Fo. Although amateur dramatics is not normally particularly innovative, it often has an influence on popular culture, and has been successful with children's theatre and plays like Bølle Bob (Hooligan Bob) and Pippi Langstrømpe (Pippi Longstockings). The only professional theatre company on the Faeroe Islands, Gríma, provides a very strong contrast to the amateur theatre companies on the islands.

Theatre as an element of national identity

More than 200 years ago, in a book entitled Indberetninger fra en Reise 1781 og 1782 (Reports from a journey in 1781-1782), Jens Christian Svabo wrote that Holberg was being performed in the capital, Thorshavn: "Two comedies were performed: Studentstrup and Herman von Bremenfeldt." The references are to two leading roles in plays entitled 11 juni (11 june) and Den politiske kandestøber (The tinker turned politician) respectively.

The nationalist and romantic movements at the end of the 19th century led to a wish to retain and develop Faeroese as the mother tongue of the islands. This was a period of national revival, encouraged by the dawning of industrialisation - a counter-reaction against increasing influence from outside the islands. In 1889 Rasmus Effersøe wrote the first Faeroese play.

Theatre has enjoyed periods of great importance for the cultural life of the Faeroe Islands, and has also functioned as a unifying medium and developer of a national horizon. No great Faeroese plays have ever been written, but it is worth mentioning Steinbjørn B. Jacobsen's plays and the work of the poet Jóanes Nielsen, who became a successful playwright in 2001 with a play entitled Hedder noget land week-end? (A country called week-end?)

The old theatre in Thorshavn called "Sjónleikarhúsið" is a central institution in the theatrical history of the Faeroes. The Faeroese poet Hans Andreas Djurhuus and William Heinesen were both associated with it, and Kristin í Geil, one of the first left-wing intellectual writers on the Faeroe Islands, wrote a number of plays to be performed there. However, a great deal has happened since those days.

A new national theatre?

In connection with the premiere of Per Gynt by Henrik Ibsen, I visited the director and manager of Gríma, Eyðun Johannesen (born 1938) in Thorshavn. The theatre is based in a small, cosy, yellow building in the middle of a town known as "the Dairy" by the local people. I asked him how his career in the theatre began:

Eyðun: "I finished my training in 1960, then played in and directed works by Samuel Beckett, William Shakespeare, Dario Fo, Max Frich, Edgar Lee Masters and Ibsen - his great tragedy Hedda Gabler. I've tried a bit of everything in my time. But perhaps it's just worth mentioning my direction of Henrik Pontoppidan's Lykke Per (Luccky Peter). That was really difficult".

Eyðun has been an extremely successful theatre director in Denmark for many years. He founded Gríma with four young amateur actors back in 1977, but before then he performed in and directed a great number of plays in the Faeroe Islands. Since 1977 Gríma has developed hugely, and there are currently 14 professional actors in the company. There are also a number of trained Faeroese actors working professionally in the other Nordic countries. Gríma aims to produce professional theatre and create a national theatre in the Faeroe Islands.

Waiting for ...

Gríma's homepage says that a parliamentary act in 2003 allows for the establishment of a national Faeroese theatre. But no specific action has yet been taken to meet this end, and no money has yet been granted. The Republican-led "Lagting" (Parliament) has looked very favourably on Gríma in recent years. Many complimentary speeches have been given - for instance by the previous minister for culture Høgni Hoydal (most recently at a big gala party in 2002 to mark Gríma's 25th anniversary). But there is still no national theatre on the horizon. Only time will tell whether the new Faeroese government (a coalition between the Social Democrats and right-wing parties) intends to do something concrete about this issue. But it is a fact that the Faeroes still do not have the kind of central institution that every nation state should have - a national theatre. The talent, actors, sound engineers and set designers are all ready to and waiting. But the physical framework has not yet been put in place. Unlike Iceland and Norway, for example, where national theatres were developed automatically shortly after these countries gained their independence. To the people of the Faeroes it might seem paradoxical that the major theatres in these countries (and indeed the very idea of a national theatre) are now being criticised. The Faeroe Islands are having enough difficulty just getting such a theatre started. It is not easy being a small country in a world that is growing more international day by day. We are still waiting for a national theatre - and hopefully the wait will not be the same as waiting for Godot!

Kim Simonsen is studying for an MA Research Degree in Nordic Literature, and writes on cultural issues