Actors Association 100 Years

Theatre in Tórshavn

Tórshavn has a long theatre tradition. In J. C. Svabo's travel reports from 1781 and 1782, we read that young Faroese students from Copenhagen staged the Holberg comedies "June the 11th" and "The Political Tinker" in Tórshavn with excellent results. It is not surprising that plays by Holberg were being performed in the Faroes in the 1700s – dramatic works in the Faroese language were non-existent. Up until that time only Holberg had written original Danish plays for the theatre.

Even if there is no doubt that dramatic works were being performed in the interim, no written sources exist until Christopher Olsen, an employee of the Monopoly Trade, wrote in his diary in 1846 that permission had been sought to sell tickets to a certain play. He further writes that "until now the audience has just been invited, not paying anything." This suggests previous theatre performances in Tórshavn. The play that Olsen refers to in his diary was a very contemporary piece of theatre, "Pak" by Th. Overskou, which shortly before had drawn full houses at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen. In the following years, a number of theatrical pieces were performed in Tórshavn. This was mainly true of popular Holberg comedies, but other dramatists were featured as well, including the German playwright von Kotzebue.

The first theatre association

In 1855, Christopher Olsen along with other enthusiasts founded the first theatre association: "Thorshavn's Theatre Company." Now dramatic works were being produced for the stage almost every year and according to C. Holm Isaksen's article on theatre history in the journal Varðin in 1925, producers were starting to look beyond the comedies of Ludvig Holberg. Theatre pieces by contemporary Danish dramatists were being staged. Among them were Johan Ludvig Heiberg, Johanne Louise Heiberg, Thomas Overskou, Erik Bøgh and Jens Christian Hostrup.

This flowering of the theatre as an art form was mainly driven by the higher bourgeoisie in Tórshavn, Danish and Faroese officials and their spouses, along with a growing class of craftsmen and business people who emerged in the wake of the so-called Rybergian era in the early 1800s and the introduction of free trade in 1856. It may be mentioned that the renowned magistrate and politician HC Müller, who was featured on a Faroese stamp earlier this year, was also an avid amateur actor.

The First Faroese Theatre Pieces

During the 1870s, a budding nationalist movement emerged among Faroese students in Copenhagen. The movement was marked by a distinct cultural and linguistic orientation - and when the students in due course returned to the Faroe Islands, it started taking root there as well. As might be expected this growing national feeling was followed by a desire to protect distinctive Faroese cultural identity and, in particular, the language. The simmering kettle was brought to a boil at the legendary Christmas meeting in 1888, where Føringafelag (The Faroese Association) was founded, having as its foremost aim the promotion and advancement of Faroese language and culture.

This also resulted in a desire for having literature, news, teaching materials, liturgy, hymns and songs in Faroese – and, obviously, dramatic works as well, rooted in Faroese social conditions and culture.

These endeavours bore result already the following year. Two theatre pieces were performed during the same evening in the House of Parliament in Tórshavn. The first one was Veðurføst (Weather-bound), written by the first women’s rights champion and feminist in the Faroes, Súsanna Helena Patursson (1864-1916). Unfortunately, the piece has not been preserved in its entirety, but it dealt mainly with the role of women in the national movement. The other performance was "Gunnar Havreki", a romantic heroic drama, written by a leading figure in Føringafelag, the agronomer, author and poet Rasmus Effersøe (1857-1916).

This was the starting point in the renewal of the theatre tradition. Danish plays continued to be performed, but increasingly Faroese plays were coming to the forefront. In 1890, two new plays were produced, "Jákup á Møn", written by Sigrid Niclasen, and "Hjá dalabóndum" by Rasmus Effersøe. That same year, the first native translation of a Holberg comedy was staged in the Faroes, translated by the ubiquitous Rasmus Effersøe.

The Other Theatre Association

In the thriving theatre scene of the 1890s, a need for an actual theatre building arose. Up until that time, different premises had been used for performances, preferably the House of Parliament, but in the long run arranging stage settings and dismantling them between performances became too difficult and demanding. The solution came when "Klubbin", the old gentleman's club in Tórshavn, offered to build an extension to the existing clubhouse to be used as a theatre hall. Thus, "The Dramatic Society in Thorshavn" came into existence, committing itself to paying instalments and interest for five years, thus gaining full control over the premises.

The inauguration of the new theatre wing in 1893 included the premieres of a romantic drama, "Magnus" by Effersøe, and the Danish play "Fastelavnsgildet" (The Shrovetide Feast) by Erik Bøgh. Now theatre performances abounded, but Faroese plays were still lacking. Almost all the performances were in Danish. The shrove tide of 1895 saw a premiere of one more theatre piece by Effersøe: ”Best man vera sum er”, drawing on Faroese folk life in the late 18th century.

The next couple of decades offered a fair amount of on-stage activities. Excellent Danish plays undoubtedly helped to consolidate theatre training for aspiring actors and form audience habits. In 1908, on the 100th anniversary of the death of the national hero Nólsoyar Páll, a new Faroese drama had its premiere. This was the play ”Ófriðarligar tíðir” (Restive Times) by the editor, poet and actor, Christen Holm Isaksen (1877-1935).

The Actor’s Association - the Third Theatre Association

In January 1918, some of Tórshavn's leading cultural personalities initiated the formation of a new theatre association. Its purpose was to promote performances of more Faroese and Danish dramas, as well as to improve the theatre’s external framework. The theatre hall in Havnar Klubbi had proven somewhat impractical and there was dire need for a distinctive theatre building.

On 10 February 1918, the Association held its first event, dedicated to the Norwegian poet Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, featuring lectures, reading and singing. This date is now considered the founding date of Havnar Sjónleikarafelag (The Actors’ Association of Tórshavn).

The events continued each month with changing themes. In July that same year, the Association performed Holberg's "The Political Tinker" in a Faroese translation by Richard Long.

In 1920, Havnar Klubbi decided to transform its theatre wing into a cinema – and once again, the Tórshavn theatre found itself without a home. Fundraising activities for a new building were initiated and in 1926 the new Theatre building was finished – designed by one of the founders of the Actor’s Association, architect H. C. W. Tórgarð.

The Theatre provided the Actor’s Association with a stable framework for its activities. It became a cultural centre where leading authors, such as Hans A. Djurhuus and William Heinesen, went about their daily routines. H. A. Djurhuus was also chairman of the Association from 1930 to 1951. Up through the thirties, the amateur stage saw much activity, and there was a steady increase of plays performed in Faroese.

During World War II, theatre life in the Faroes went into hibernation. British occupying forces seized the Theatre and used it as residential quarters for soldiers. This is also the reason why we have such scant knowledge about the theatre’s internal activities in the pre-war period. The Associations protocols, journals and some manuscripts were locked in a desk drawer in the premises - and when the Association got the building back after the war, the desk had disappeared. All attempts to find the lost documents have proven fruitless, so our information is based solely on oral reports and contemporary newspaper articles.

After the war, theatre life bloomed once again with the Theatre as its natural centre. Its stable framework made it possible to take on more challenging projects than before. The fifties saw the performing arts progressing. The heydays of the Association and the Theatre began in the early sixties with the arrival of Eyðun Johannessen, an educated actor and director. Drama education was provided for amateur actors - and Faroese writers wrote and translated plays for the stage. Scenography also underwent development during this period, designs being created by various artists who were hired for the purpose. In the wake of this golden age, we also began to see the first professional Faroese actors.

The financing of the company was to a large extent achieved by the house itself. Dance evenings were organized, movies were shown and concerts etc., arranged when the premises were not being used for performances. All these activities served to provide the necessary resources for the operation. Today, the institution also receives some public funding, but the main drive still comes from enthusiasts working on volunteer basis.

The Actor’s Association and the Theatre provided, and still provide, the framework for the amateur theatre in Tórshavn. The standard is high and the activities manifold - including drama education for children and young people in collaboration with the Evening School of Tórshavn and a varied range of performances. What started out as a homeless recreational activity for idealistic theatre enthusiasts is today an honoured and independent institution whose cultural-historical significance cannot be exaggerated.

Congratulations on the Centenary. May the next 100 years bring as much success, development and cultural values as the previous centenary.

Anker Eli Petersen

Stamp Sheet Facts
The background image on the stamp sheet is a photograph from 1889 of the group of actors in "Weather-bound." In the orange pane on the left, you will see the face of Súsanna Helena Patursson, who wrote and performed in the play.

When the first two Faroese plays, Weather-bound and Gunnar Havreki, were performed in the House of Parliament in Tórshavn in 1898, a banner hung over the scene with the phrase “Til gaman og álvara” (In Fun and Earnest). This motto became part of the decoration in the Theatre building from 1926 - and still hangs above the stage. The motto is divided by a portrait of the theatre enthusiast Rasmus Effersøe, who wrote several of the first Faroese plays. It is designed on the basis of the original and inserted at the lower edge of the stamp sheet. However, the portrait of Effersøe has been replaced by the current logo of the Actors’ Association.Traditionally, the theatre offer colourful sceneries, which is why I chose to use the easily recognizable chequered costume of the Harlequin in the Comedia dell'arte tradition as a background - the defining characteristics of satire and parody.Another well-known theatre motif is the two-piece masks symbolizing comedy and tragedy respectively. The masks have their root in religious rituals around the Greek god Dionysus, representing Thalia, the muse of comedy, and Melpomene, the muse of tragedy and song.

The motifs on the upper stamp derive from the plays "Kálvur lítli" by Ólavur Michelsen, the season of 1963/64, and "Still the Sun shines" by Valdemar Poulsen - season 1965/66.

Both motifs on the lower stamp derive from the drama "Sangur i mjørka" (A Song in the Fog) by Elin á Rógvi - theatre season 2013/14.