High Five!

back in full-swing

After two unpredictable years navigating COVID precautions and travel restrictions, RVK Fringe was given free rein in year five to thrive! International performers from 17 different countries joined local artists in Reykjavík for a 10-day festival that was absolutely brimming with life, love and everything in between.

This was a truly record-breaking year: ticket sales soared, audiences flocked to nearly 200 performances, and the RVK Fringe itself spanned across two unprecedented weekends. We were visited by festival managers from Bergen Fringe and Gothenburg Fringe, and their assistance and wisdom could not have come at a better time!

The Opening Day offered a taste of the Fringe, with full performances of HOLD: The Musical and The Gorgeous Life: where are they now? both preceding the Opening Party at IÐNÓ. Festival goers sipped spirits and mingled while being treated to snippets of selected shows throughout the evening, such as No Makeup, Your Flaws the Musical, Eldklárar og eftirsóttar, Y Todavía Somos, SEIÐR, THEM, LÍf, and Vice Versa. The evening was hosted by award winning comedians and Fringe veterans Mauricio Rodriguez and Andrew Sim (aka Linda). Then, DJ Owen Hindley played us off late into the night!

The next day featured a Gallery Opening at Gallerí Fold where artists showcased a mixture of illustrations and comics. Many took the festival theme of “love” to, ahem, heart. The works showcased were Space Mama Piggy by Sólveig Eva, the Strange Love comic art showcase presented by the Icelandic Comic Society, and Three Grimms Fairy Tales by Tinna Önnudóttir accompanied with poetry by Christian Hege.

In an unprecedented move, RVK Fringe housed two gallery spaces in 2022, the second of which was upstairs in IÐNÓ sunnusalur. The spectacle of art here ranged in size and material, from the imposing 70 skipti sem ég þurfti að vera sætur by Sindri “Sparkle” Freyr, to the byte-sized work of Einar Masson in Artificial Digital Scarcity. Fantasia Floreale – Metamorphosis by Kristin ("Kristal") Markusdottir and Örlagaþræðir by Helga Thoroddsen adorned the sunny walls, and serves as an unexpected backdrop to a few shows.

The mammoth 10-day festival was teased out to audiences at the Preview Night in Tjarnarbíó where each group was given a strict 2 minutes to present their show. There was a total of 90 shows, 40 international and 50 local. The shows included theatre, stand-up comedy, illustrations, dance, music, cabaret, spoken word, virtual reality, improv, performance art, immersive theatre and puppetry.

Shows were presented in 6 official venues: IÐNÓ (main hall and upstairs), Tjarnarbíó, Húrra, Hús Mals og Menningar, Mengi, and Gallerí Fold. The BYO (Bring Your Own) venues were Loft Hostel, Kramhúsið, Einar Jónsson Museum, Café Pysja and Hafnartorg.

Each year of Fringe is different, and this year we were lucky to see performances truly unlike anything ever performed at RVK Fringe in the past. Some stand-outs include: After by Canadian company 8ROJO -- a spooky, non-verbal immersive play for just 4 audience members at a time. Triptych Men from Israeli company Sabotal Theatre was a hilarious and moving work of physical theatre featuring true stories by the performers that changed with each performance. And we were delighted to welcome Iceland’s (and Netflix’s) favorite comedian Ari Eldjarn with his English show Saga Class which was sold out each night, and rightly so!

As with each year, it’s impossibly difficult to choose award winners, as we have so many great works to choose from. After a long deliberation, here are the final winners:

RISING STAR – Dan Roh: The Half Advenutres of Reverend Roh & Ari Eldjarn: Saga Class

PUNCH IN THE FACE- Shattered by Diana Varco

PEN TO PAPER- Space Mama Piggy by Sólveig Eva

AUDIENCE CHOICE – Ari Eldjarn: Saga Class and Sóðabrók / Dirty Undies

ARTIST FAVOURITE – Triptych Men

BEST FAMILY SHOW — Hej Förresten! / Hi There!

BEST CHARACTER ACTOR— Líf

MAINE AWARD – Let it Burn / Linda

OFF TO ITALY – Y Todavía Somos

NORDIC FRINGE NETWORK – You’re Lucky He Was Nice

ACT ALONE – Bird About Town

GRAPEVINE AWARD – A Study of Choices

TAKE MY BREATH AWAY – No Makeup

FUNNY AWARD – Isabel Maria: The Emotional Universe of a Melodramatic Woman

FRINGE OF THE FRINGE – Do You See What I Hear?

BEST ENSEMBLE – THEM by Spindrift

SPIRIT OF THE FRINGE – Chris DeFillip of PortFringe & Story Gauntlet

NOTICE ME!! – Dan Nava: Becoming Icelandic

VOLUNTEER AWARD – the entire 2022 team!

BEST DUET – Will Finn and Rosie Calvert

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE – Triptych Men

GRAND PRIX - Mansfantasier//Male Fantasies

We’re still beaming with delight from this very successful fifth year, and are already getting prepared for 2023! The tentative dates for next year are June 28th – July 2nd, and applications will open in November. We can’t wait to see you there!