National Theatre of Iceland
Iceland's national permanent acting ensemble — 35 actors, around thirty productions a season — in a building that has been running since 1950.
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Designed by Guðjón Samúelsson and opened on 20 April 1950, this is Iceland's flagship stage, producing roughly twenty new works a year across Icelandic classics, foreign drama, musicals, and puppet theatre. Productions have toured to the Barbican in London, the Kennedy Center in Washington, and the Ibsen Festival in Oslo — a reach that punches well above Reykjavik's size.
What to look for
- Guðjón Samúelsson's building, opened in 1950
- The season programme board: look for international director credits — Benedict Andrews, Yaël Farber, and Rimas Tuminas have all worked here
- In-house production: sets, costumes, and wigs are all made on site by the theatre's own departments
Check the current programme at the box office — the repertoire spans adult drama to children's shows, so there is usually something running on any given evening.
National Theatre of Iceland is one of 17 sights worth the detour in Reykjavik, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Reykjavik pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Reykjavik
- HallgrímskirkjaA 74-metre church modeled on Iceland's volcanic basalt columns — 41 years in the making, visible from nearly anywhere in the city.
- Icelandic Phallological MuseumOne exhibit needs a magnifying glass; another once measured 170 cm. Both are real.
- LaugardalsvöllurThe city that dreamed of a sporting venue in 1871 — when Reykjavík held just 2,000 people — finally opened a football stadium here in 1959.
- National Museum of IcelandA carved wooden door where a knight slays a dragon and gains a lion as his companion — and that is the headline object.
- Bessastaðir — Presidential ResidenceSnorri Sturluson farmed here in the 1200s. Turkish slave raiders attacked in 1627. Today the president of Iceland calls it home.
- Imagine Peace TowerA column of light rises 4,000 metres into the Arctic sky from a wishing well on a small island — Yoko Ono's memorial to John Lennon, running on geothermal power.