Physical, Visual, Comic, & Absurd

Kristján Ingimarsson (b. 1968). Originally from Iceland. Moved to Denmark in 1992. Trained, among other places, at the School of Stage Arts (the actors’ school at the performance art theatre Cantabile 2, DK), 1997. Founder and artistic director of the Neander theatre company (1998), as well as freelance actor and performer.

Artistic profile
Neander is extraordinary, visual theatre, full of surprising and comic figures. Stylistically, the theatre is inspired by the old black-and-white heroes of silent film, as well as animated films, computer games and martial arts. Physical language is in constant development in a blend of mime, slapstick, acrobatics, clowning, dance and theatre.

Neander's performances typically take their starting point in twisted thought experiments about modern civilization in which a thesis is developed in flights of fancy into extremely funny insanity. The number of people involved in the performance varies between 1 and 5. The theatre does not have a permanent ensemble.

Kristján Ingimarsson often collaborates with comic and performance artist Paolo Nani. Together, they established the production company Produktion Fantasia and produced My Head and the critically-praised audience success, The Art of Dying.

Current productions

Productions of Neander
Frelserens genkomst / The Saviour
(2007)
A man suspects he is the Saviour.  In secrecy, he plans his second coming and practices his supernatural powers – which, to his great concern, seem to be a bit too subject to chance.  But it is chance that takes him further.

Blow Job
(2005)
A breathlessly absurd comedy about the accelerating tempo of the Western world: How would the world look if the 24 hours of a day were boiled down to 15 minutes?  The production may be performed in Danish or in English.

Mike Attack
(1998)
Kristján Ingimarsson’s insanely funny one-man show about a little man’s struggle to survive in a media-saturated society.  The only prop on the stage is a microphone stand.  The performance makes use of English sound effects, without words from the actors, who communicate with their impressively articulate bodies.

Productions of Produktion Fantasia
My Head
(2006)
In collaboration with Paolo Nani. A high-energy thriller of a comedy about the brain and who controls its activities, performed by three talented mimes.  The performances are done in gibberish.

The Art of Dying
(2003)
In collaboration with Paolo Nani. Magical tragicomedy about two clowns (Nani and Ingimarsson) at the top of their career.  They have been together since they were little, but suddenly one of them learns he is going to die.  The performance is in gibberish with a lot of astounding and spell-binding clowning.

Review extracts

“Drop dead funny. Laughter and pain are twin sisters here and, through mime, they take us through the whole register of emotions in nuanced reflections on the fundamental conflicts of life.  Pricelessly funny and paralyzingly talented slapstick. Simply world-class material.”
Politiken (DK), Art of Dying

“Without words but through music, sound, gibberish, dance, body, mime, funny walks, and imaginative ideas, this is storytelling and clowning at the highest level with sublime entertainment value.”
Urban (DK), Art of Dying

“Splendidly brisk and almost always in manic communication with its own strange media world … first and foremost, a physical fireworks display of slapstick and stand-up at a level you have to look long and hard to find elsewhere...”
Berlingske Tidende (DK), Mike Attack

International tours

The Art of Dying

2007
August: Bergamo, Italy
September: Festival Castel dei Mondi (Andria/IT)
October: Festival Comico de Maia (Maia/Portugal)

Mike Attack

2007
October: Festival Comico de Maia (Maia/Portugal)
November: Bolzano, Italy