Reykjavik at The Albany

Reykjavik at The Albany

13 May, 2011
by: JoSuthers

Jo Sutherland is blown away by Shams' experimental, immersive theatre show Reykjavik at The Albany. 

Welcome to Reykjavik, the capital city of Iceland; featuring glaciers, midnight sun, winter darkness and, for Jonathan Young, memories of a lost, tainted love. Written in collaboration with scientific advisor Dr Hugo Spiers, this play is a science-laced artistic voyage into a magical world of memoirs.

Reykjavik may be about one man’s journey as he confronts memories he doesn't understand, but this is also immersive theatre: clad in white boiler suits and clinical goggles, the audience join Young on this journey of self-discovery. Together, we explore the effect the past has on the present and we try to make sense of this alien world. 

Collectively, we meander through a clinical and icy maze. We follow the twists and turns of the set, in a journey that takes us to different periods of the protagonist's life and his emotional recollections. With the space utterly transformed for every scene, Reykjavik is a feast for the senses; visually engaging, aesthetically pleasing and auditorily stimulating.

Surrounding film projections transform a bed into a hot pool, the white-washed walls into the city’s horizon, and the empty room into the ultimate house party. Headlights glow and we can envisage every aspect of a manic drive culminating in disaster; white, blue and red lights flash in a haze. Then, as victims of the crash, we're lead helplessly back to our seats. Quite an experience in itself.

Abandoning the usual role as spectator, the audience plays an active part in the story and the actors control the crowd's movement with ease. And that's something I always worry about when it comes to participatory theatre (probably due to my clumsy tendencies; such as falling over, getting lost, stapling things to my face, etc). But there's nothing to worry about here. Except maybe the dancing, but we only have ten seconds or so to go mad, let our hair down and unleash our inner scientist / dance demon. And if you’re reading this thinking “no, not me” – you’ll be surprised. I rarely dance in public – mainly for fear of being ridiculed for my misunderstood ‘killer’ moves. But our weird costumes create a sense of anonymity; I become just another clone, and it's strangely liberating.

Surprisingly, the play manages to capture the essence of story-telling. Intriguing, imaginative and poignant; Reykjavik offers a fresh perspective on the personal baggage we accumulate throughout our lives, and the way we can deal with breaking the cycle. Creator and performer Jonathan Young’s performance as the protagonist is captivating, moving and utterly compelling, whilst the writing shows a natural flair for dialogue. This really is a beautiful piece of poetry.


Reykjavik runs at The Albany until 14th May. 

JoSuthers