Styrmir Elí Interview by Jen Bush

Untitled 1970 is unlike anything you’ve ever seen before.  It’s a cerebral hybrid production that takes place on a stage and on a screen.  Talk about “all the world’s a stage… ”, Everyone will be getting a front row seat to this compelling show because the intended venue is YOUR living room!  Yes, this unique entertainment experience will take place in people’s homes.  We had the thrill of speaking with the writer and co-director Styrmir Eli to learn more about this exhilarating show.

Mr. Eli gives us a comprehensive description of the show.  Untitled, 1970 is a multimedia theatre piece that sprung to life early this year. It is led by an international team of young creatives from the film and theatre world in New York. 

The performance will all take place in an apartment, not in an actual theatre space, where half the performance will be on stage, while the other half will be on video. So, the story will flow from stage to screen, and from screen to stage. 

This experimental, creative endeavor is a narration of friendship and the perplexities of life. 

The inspiration for this work of art came from Mr. Eli’s life as well as a multitude of questions he pondered.  “Well, I draw inspiration from many things in my personal life; observations, and real life scenarios.” 

“The story is really built around a set of questions that I ask myself all the time, or opposing concepts rather. In recent years I have become fascinated with binary images. Good and bad. Light and dark. Positivity and negativity. 0 and 1. And how sometimes, it can be hard to tell what is what, that is, the world is full of paradoxes and sometimes one can become the other, based on perspective. And you cannot have one without the other. There is no good if there is no bad. And the frequency between these two opposing forces is, in my view, the beauty, and existence of life. As Einstein said, everything is relative.”

“We follow the story of Joey, and Tristan, two friends who live in the busy environment that is New York City. They are young, playful, smart, and curious, but approach life in very different ways. It is a story of contracting perplexities, and states of being.” 

“Is it good or bad to be unbothered?” 

“Then, in terms of the production, we’re playing with the concept of merging the worlds of theatre and cinema together. As a child, a young boy, I was fascinated with the world of cinema. It was my first love.” 

“I grew up spending a lot of time at my grandmother’s dance & cultural studio in downtown Reykjavik, Iceland. There I would take acting lessons, dance and do other workshops. Then after class I would run to video rental across the street, grab a movie, and watch on my grandmother’s TV – who lived right above the studio. This was a standard routine through many years of my youth.” 

“There is a certain intimacy in film that can be really tricky to conceive on stage, especially with a bigger audience. While in the theatre, there is presence, demand, and a level of realness that when done correctly, and fully, cinema cannot compete with.”

“That is why the idea sprung to merge these two worlds – and play with these two different mediums of storytelling – and possibly, hopefully, create a new sense, a different experience for the audience.” 

Dreams and visions sometimes come with obstacles.  Mr. Eli is facing some obstacles, but he is facing them with positivity and hope.  “Honestly, budgeting, and logistics. It’s a complex piece we are putting together. And we are all newly graduated, young creatives, with no more than a few dollars to our names.” 

“Nevertheless, we are a group of very ambitious, passionate, and hard-working individuals that really want to create something very special. And it actually works as a spice, a function of motive that wheels our creative endeavor forward. That’s the spirit of New York City.”

“So far we have been able to overcome any problems and obstacles that have come our way – and we just keep moving ahead.”

“Creatively, the process has flown and flowed quite freely. We’ve had no problem (at least so far) with putting the story together or building the characters that live within the world of our creation.”

“Today we are a few weeks from shooting the film part of the project, and then moving into rehearsals, so let’s hope we stay on the same path!”

This piece is much more than a suspension of reality.  Mr. Eli would like the audience to walk away with some deep contemplations about existence.  “The aim with this piece is to awake certain questions about what it means to be alive, what it means to be human, and to reflect on how we live our lives. What matters to us and how do we go on about our thoughts and emotions.  What is my take on life? What is my perspective? What do I project into this world?

These are big questions.”

“All of us that are working on this piece have a different point of view on the story, and that’s exactly how it should be.”

This show could change the face of theatre as we know it!  “Well, we’ll see about that. We are just excited to get our show up and running and hopefully create a meaningful experience for our audience.” 

Next for Mr. Eli is seeing how far he can take this show.  In theatres there are limited runs.  With a show like this, the possibilities are limitless.  It’s much easier to drop by someone’s home than to book a theatre.  “Hopefully we will run our show for some time. I guess time will tell.” 

            This is an ambitious piece for newly graduated artists.  If they are doing this now, imagine the amazing art they will put out into the world with more time and experience!  Dust, mop, vacuum and open your home to these passionate artists!  You don’t have to worry about parking or hanging around the stage door for an autograph.  Your front door  IS the stage door!