Three actors, three chairs, and one empty set were all that carried Iceland, and it worked. The performance, part of the 2016 Spark Festival at the Belfry Theatre, was a series of monologues, with the occasional chime-in from another actor in one of the opposing chairs. The carefully timed monologues described the death of a smart-mouthed real-estate agent.
In his monologue, the agent spoke with profanities almost constantly; his egotistical and arrogant persona was perfectly portrayed. His character was meant to be disliked—he talked about how he interacts with prostitutes and carries around a money clip instead of a wallet. His monologue felt more like a dark and sexual comedy skit than him describing the series of events that led to his death. Despite this, his performance had people genuinely laughing and his body language and actions were perfectly represented on stage.
Then there was the European prostitute, who had pure intentions—she only wanted a high-paying job to send money to her mother and debt-ridden brother. I was very impressed with her acting as she carried out her monologues. The way you could see emotions play across her face was very real, and genuinely captivating.
Lastly, there was the religious woman, who was clearly burdened with shame and anxiety; she gets so distressed she starts to eat soap. There was hardly a gap where the actress playing the role started and the performance of the character began. Her acting was impeccable and when the rage and terror of her monologue flared up it felt like she was actually suffering through these emotions on stage.
Iceland was a captivating and powerful piece with incredibly realistic performances. The show dived into depths no one expected from just three chairs on a stage. It was exciting and charismatic and the actors did a phenomenal job; I’m very glad I got to witness the marvellous things that happened on stage during Iceland.
Iceland
Until March 19
Belfry Theatre
belfry.bc.ca