Kómedíuleikhúsið in Haukadalur - the smallest professional Theatre in Iceland

Did you know that in Haukadalur valley in Dýrafjörður fjord in the Westfjords, you will find the smallest professional theatre in Iceland, called Kómedíuleikhúsið - the Comedy Theatre?

I got to know this lovely little theatre better when my husband was booked for a magic and hypnosis show at Kómedíuleikhúsið theatre.

Top photo: the lovely little Kómedíuleikhúsið theatre on a sunny day

The theatre is located by the sea in beautiful surroundings in Dýrafjörður fjord

On arrival, I found out that Kómedíuleikhúsið is one of the houses that is much bigger on the inside than it appears to be on the outside :)

This old house, Gíslastaðir, was built in 1936 as a meeting house, and the very talented couple Elfar Logi and Marsibil own it today and founded the Kómedíuleikhúsið - Comedy Theatre.

Beautiful Dýrafjörður as seen from Haukadalur valley

We had met Elfar Logi and Marsibil earlier on when my husband was performing at the 20th anniversary of Act Alone, the annual festival in Suðureyri by Súgandafjörður, also founded by Elfar Logi and Marsibil.

See also my travel-blog: The 20th Anniversary of the Act Alone Festival in Suðureyri in the Westfjords.

Beautiful artwork on the outside of Kómedíuleikhúsið theatre created by the talented Marsibil

Elfar and Marsibil live in Þingeyri village in Dýrafjörður, not far from the Comedy Theatre. And that is where we stayed for 3 days, in a guesthouse opposite their home, called Við fjörðinn.

A month after Act Alone which takes place in August, Elfar Logi contacted my husband again and asked him to do a magic show in September at the Kómedíuleikhúsið theatre. We said yes without hesitation. 

With Marsibil in her atelier in her home, but she is a very talented artist

We were invited for breakfast at their home every morning of our stay and dinner in the evenings. A lovely gesture and we had a great time together.

Elfar Logi and Marsibil have been together since they were teenagers studying at Núpur boarding school across the Dýrafjörður fjord.

Marsibil has an atelier at home where she creates her famous Skeljaverur - Shell dolls made from shells and conches from beaches in the Westfjords. I am going to show you her beautiful work in my next travel-blog.

One of the props of the magic show - the Haukadalsgoði Elfar Logi chopping my head off

Elfar and Marsibil founded Kómedíuleikhúsið - the Comedy Theatre in 1997, and in this remote place in the Westfjords of Iceland, this little theatre has hosted over 40 plays, focusing on solo performances, the majority of which tell us stories from the Westfjords.

I saw one of their plays when the couple came to Hafnarfjörður town in the southwest corner of Iceland.

That latest solo act play, the Ariasman (2024) tells us the story about one of the most atrocious events in Iceland's history, the Basque killings.

Elfar Logi's solo play in the Ariasman

Icelandic Viking history is bloody, from the Settlement of Iceland, until the 13th century, which has been called Sturlungaöld - the Age of the Sturlungs, and I have told you about in several of my travel-blogs. 

The Basque killings took place much later, in the autumn of 1615, and they were mass murders of 31 innocent shipwreck Basque whalers.

Ari Magnússon, the sheriff of Ögur in the Westfjords, ordered farmers from the Westfjords to kill these poor men and mutilate their bodies.

The Ariasman is a highly recommended play, very tragic, but a story that has to be told.

The Logo of Kómedíuleikhúsið - the Comedy Theatre in Haukadalur

The first solo play staged at the Kómedíuleikhúsið theatre in 2001, was Act Without Words by Samuel Beckett, and that play is the only play that wasn't an original by Kómedíuleikhúsið.

The following years the Kómedíuleikhúsið theatre staged the play Muggur in 2002, Steinn Steinarr in 2003, Gísli Súrsson in 2005, but Gísli Súrsson is the Saga hero of the Icelandic Saga Gísla saga Súrssonar - The Saga of Gisli the Outlaw.

The Saga happens here in Haukadalur valley and other places in the Westfjords, but Gísli Súrsson was born here in Haukadalur. I wish I could have seen that show, as I am a big fan of the Sagas.

Information signs in the Westfjords at important locations in the Saga of Gísli the Outlaw

The next solo play they staged was Pétur and Einar in 2008, Jón Sigurðsson - Boy from the West in 2011.

The noted Jón Sigurðsson, whom we refer to as our Independence hero, and whose birthday we celebrate now as Iceland's national holiday, was born at Hrafnseyri in Arnarfjörður fjord, the next valley to Dýrafjörður where the Kómedíuleikhúsið is located.

In 2013 Fjalla-Eyvindur - Eyvindur of the Mountains was staged, but Fjalla-Eyvindur is one of Iceland's 3 best-known outlaws; Gísli Súrsson and Grettir the Strong are the other ones. 

You will encounter these wooden pillars on Gemlufallsheiði by the information sign on Gísli

The solo play Grettir was staged in 2015, but I have told you about Grettir the Strong in many of my travel-blogs, including this one:

Grettisbæli - the Lair of the Viking Grettir the Strong in Hítardalur Valley in West Iceland

Grettir was almost hanged in the Westfjords during his outlawry and was saved from hanging by the granddaughter of Egill the Strong, another Saga hero from the Saga of Egill.

The theatre is much bigger on the inside than the outside - here we also have a bar and a lounge area

The Comedy Theatre also staged Gísli from Uppsalir in 2017, but Gísli was a recluse who lived alone in a secluded valley in Arnarfjörður.

I have told you about Gísli in this travel-blog:

Arnarfjörður Fjord in the Westfjords - the Sea Monster Fjord of Iceland

A Comedy Magic Show at the Comedy Theatre

My husband performing at Kómedíuleikhúsið - the Comedy Theatre in Haukadalur

My husband put on a magic show at the Kómedíuleikhúsið in the middle of the day, which was great fun. He is a professional comedy magician and I love when he is booked somewhere outside of Reykjavík.

Then I join him and take his photos and advertise him the best way I can. And, in my spare time, I check out the surroundings, take photos and gather information for my travel-blogs.

In the afternoon the show changed and became less kid-friendly as you can see in my video below.

Elfar Logi was my husband's "victim" in the afternoon show. He fortunately survived the "off with the head" act - we like him and want him to live :)

I always enjoy the comedy magic shows even though I have seen them many times over the years. The sheer joy and surprise of the audience is what I love, and the laughter and smiles on children's faces :)

And I love accompanying him outside of Reykjavík, where we live, where I get the opportunity to meet the locals of the other towns and villages in Iceland and learn more about the places in question.

A Guided Tour of Haukadalur - the Home of the Saga Hero Gísli Súrsson

Haukadalsgoði giving a guided tour of Saga location of Gísla Saga Súrssonar

Now, as I told you earlier then Haukadalur valley is best known for being the home of the Saga outlaw Gísli Súrsson.

Elfar Logi, who is also Haukadalsgoði - the Viking Chieftain of the Haukdælir Viking clan, offers guided tours of this Saga location. 

I took a short video at the start of the guided tour. I took several videos, but it was so cold outside that I had to stop as my fingers were freezing. It was a cold summer in the Westfjords and in the southwest corner of Iceland where I live.

At the beginning of the tour - we were all Icelandic so the tour was in Icelandic

The guided tour starts by the Kómedíuleikhúsið theatre and lasts for an hour. Elfar Logi guides in Icelandic and English.

Here in Haukadalur Gisli and his brother, Þorkell lived, and their sister, Þórdís, with her husband, Þorgrímur, at the farms Hóll and Sæból.

Atrocities took place in the valley, where good men were murdered. Gísli ended up murdering his brother-in-law in his sleep while his pregnant sister was lying in bed next to her husband. And, Gísli, thus became an outlaw for 13 years before he was killed.

Haukadalur earlier in the day before the sun disappeared behind the mountains

Elfar Logi invited me on a guided tour in between my husband's shows, as 10 Icelandic friends had booked a guided tour of Gísli Súrsson's home turf, and I was allowed to tag along.

A while ago, while I was working on my Viking activities in Iceland travel-blog, I read in an article that Haukadalsgoði offers guided tours of Haukadalur - and I very much wanted to join his tour. 

I don't visit the Westfjords that often and had given up hope that I would be able to be guided around the Saga home of Gísli the Outlaw, where so many of the events in Gísla Saga Súrssonar took place.

I didn't even know that Elfar Logi, who manages the Act Alone festival, and Haukadalsgoði were the same guy :)

Beautiful Haukadalur valley in Dýrafjörður fjord - my grandmother was born in a valley across the fjord 

I felt so lucky, as I love the Icelandic Sagas and have read all 44 of them with a passion.

And those of you who read my travel-blog know that I love Viking stuff and archaeological digs and burial mounds in Iceland and have written long travel-blogs about this subject.

After the one-hour guided tour, which was awesome, thank you, Elfar Logi, we went inside the Kómedíuleikhúsið theatre to get something hot to drink.

One of the information signs about Gísli Súrsson - can you spot where this one is located?

Getting information from locals is always the best way and I for sure learned a lot on this trip and got to know many lovely locals.

In many locations in the Westfjords, you will see information signs where a specific event from the Saga of Gísli the Outlaw took place. See how many you can find :)

You can contact Elfar Logi and his wife Marsibil at komedia@komedia.is to book a guided tour. 

Outside Kómedíuleikhúsið - the Comedy Theatre in Haukadalur valley

Have a lovely time in Haukadalur in the Westfjords, and, hopefully, you will be able to watch a show at Kómedíuleikhúsið - the Comedy Theatre.

And say hello to Elfar Logi and Marsibil if you see them, they are such lovely people :)