”Be a wolf!” received enormous attention when it premiered in Iceland in the middle of a pandemic. It received unanimous praise from critics and audiences, every show was sold out and had long waiting lists. The play won numerous awards at the Icelandic theatre awards Griman.

”Be a wolf!” takes us on an insane journey through dangerous parts of the mind, into a world of anarchy and desperation and back again. We gain insight into the struggle of a man who manages to break out of a vicious cycle and turn his most horrifying experience into the strength that is needed in order to be able to change the whole system.

The production is based on the book ”Be a Wolf! ”, a new autobiographical narritive by Héðinn Unnsteinsson, which has received well-earned attention and was nominated for the Icelandic Literature Awards. The author has been active in issues concerning mental health for over two decades, advocating as an user and ex-user of the service, working for WHO (World Health Organization) as a technical officer and the icelandic ministry of health among others. For the last ten years Héðinn has been a senior policy analyst within the Prime Minister‘s Office.

“Tonight, I found out why they built the National Theatre of Iceland back in the day. It was so we could see Be a Wolf! with Björn Thors and everyone on his team, audience members included. The National Theatre split open, broke and blossomed. What we got to see was humanity, the humane and the collective”.

Elísabet Kristín Jökulsdóttir, Writer and recipient of the Icelandic Literary Awards 2021

“Theatre, at last. And such celebration, such generosity. Such acting! There is a great deal of compassion and resort in this play – for all of us!“.

Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir, Former Mayor of Reykjavík, Foreign Minister and Parliamentarian

Language: Icelandic (Polish and English subtitles provided).

Cast