Heimkoman at the Pjóðleikhúsið

Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson… hilarious… on a scooter!

Need I say more? The Homecoming by Harold Pinter, is a strange two-act play which explores the dynamics of sexual power in an English family when Teddy, the eldest son, brings his 'wife' Ruth home from America to the seedy house where his father, an uncle, and two other brothers live. In the version I saw, in preview at the Icelandic National Theatre Thursday evening, the house had morphed into a service garage complete with operating plumbing. A sleazy psychodrama unfolds in this hyper-realistic yet surreal set. I could understand few of the words, but the emotional language of the actors was quite clear. Some full male nudity added to the mix. In a short conversation with the woman sitting next to me (who goes to ALL the plays), I mentioned some of the more memorable plays I had seen there and her appraisals matched mine.

Earlier in the day, at the pool, the Icelandic author Þórbergur Þórðarson came up in conversation. My companion mentioned another book by this author which I will have to pick it up when I return home. In the book the protagonist pines for a young girl who "still had a bit of God in her." When he returns from fishing, the girl had grown up and the main character becomes disillusioned with the result. As we were talking, in the shallow wading pool near us, there were numerous young children getting rudimentary swimming instruction. Their shrieks and cries were, to my ears, akin to birds singing.

"Those children still have that little bit of God in them, don't they?" said my companion.