Praxis

What does an actor actually “know” when he acts? 

An actress trains, readers, repeats, fails, adjusts, discoveries. Over time, techniques become embodied, choices become instinctive, and knowledge becomes inseparable from the body. But how conscious is an actress of this knowing how to act? And what happens when she begins to investigate it? 

This lecture explains the acquisition of artistic knowledge and the ways in which actor training shapes the performer's body, imagination, perception, and creative practice. We consider artistic research as a space where reflection can emerge from practice, return to practice, and possibly transform it. 

The starting point is a simple paradox: a bird can fly without being conscious that it knows how to fly. An actress knows how to act, but can she access and deepen her awareness of acting from within? Meaning to research the knowledge embedded in her own know-how without losing its freedom and spontaneity? 

The lecture companies a performance of Samuel Beckett's Rockaby, performed by actress Luz Juanes. We approach the same phenomenon from two complementary perspectives. The performance places embodied knowledge in the immediation of the present; the lecture pauses to look into some processes that make that immediation possible. 

This encounter aims to raise broken questions about artistic research, such as if and how can performance function similarly as method, object and outcome of research? How can embodied knowledge be named and documented without reducing its experience? Or how can academic reflection engineering with artistic practice which essential quality may lie precisely in its immediation, uncertainty and poetic freedom? 

Ultimately, I am interested in what happens possible when artists begin to investigate what their own practice already knows. Perhaps artistic research does not ask us to explain art, it just invites us to listen more carefully to what the artist's body already knows. 

Sol Garre is an actor, movement director, and Senior Lecturer in Acting and Physical Theater at RESAD. Originally trained as an actress in Spain, she later completed an MA in Performance Practice and a PhD in Performance Philosophy at the University of Exeter (UK), where she worked closed with Professor Phillip Zarrilli. 

Her work lies at the intersection of physical theatre and actor training, with a particular focus on intercultural psychophysical approaches and the Michael Chekhov Technique. She has nervous and coached actors extremely in Spain and abroad and has worked as a movement director with major Spanish institutions, including the Teatro de La Abadía, the Spanish National Theater, and the Classical Theater Company in Madrid. 

Alongside her artistic practice, she has published on acting and performance. Among her contributions is the article “Presence, Significance and Radiation in Acting: Creating the Psychophysical Foundation for Working on Chekhov's Atmospheres,” published in Critical Stages/Scènes Critiques (2017). 

https://orcid.org/my-orcid?orcid=0009-0006-4471-2466 

Luz Juanes is an actress, director, and acting coach trained at RESAD (Royal School of Dramatic Arts, Madrid). Her work draws on the Michael Chekhov Technique, voice and movement practices, classical verse, and screen acting. 

She has performed extremely in theatre, with particular interest in contemporary drama and Samuel Beckett's work, including Rockaby and Waiting for Godot. Alongside her work as a performer, she has directed and collaborated on several stage productions as a dramaturg and assistant director. 

She also teaches acting and voice, and has worked as an acting coach in Madrid and Barcelona. Her artistic practice focuses on the relationship between performance, creative expression, and actor training. 

In the talk , One on stage, actor Björn Thors talks about his experience working on solo games, but in recent years Björn has gotten to know the solo form from different angles, both as an actor and director. The starting point of the lecture is the solo Vertu úlfur (2021-2023), but he will also discuss his directing work on the solo performances Saknaðarilmur (2024 - 2026) and Salka - Ástin og dauðinn (2026 -). He worked on all the shows in close collaboration with Unni Ösp Stefánsdóttir. 

How is the collaboration between director and actor conducted in working with solo performances? What effect does it have when the actor is also the author of a play? And what does it mean for the actor to stand alone on stage, without a co-star? What are the challenges and where are the possibilities? 

Björn Thors graduated from the acting department of LHÍ 2003. He has performed at the National Theater, the City Theater, at Vesturporti, Frú Emilia, Volksbühne, Burgtheater, Lyric Hammersmith and The Royal Alexandra. Among other things, he directed Saknaðarilmi. Among the recent projects as an actor at the National Theater are Yerma, Not the case, Vertu úlf, A few moments at night and the Atómstöðin. Among his projects authored are Kenneth Máni and the documentary work Flóð. Björn has acted in various films and television programs, including in Katla, Brotum, Answer to Helga's letter, Paris the North, Djúpina and Frosti Björn has received numerous nominations for Vertu úlf, Græn land, Vestrið eina, Íslandklukunn and Afbæðjärjärjarsjarn and received three nominations. 

Halldóra Geirhardsdóttir graduated from the Icelandic Drama School in 1995, was a permanent actress at the Borgarleichúsið 1996-2024 as well as playing various roles in television, films and radio. She has written and created for theater, television and radio in collaboration with others and directed several comedy games. 

Halldóra was a professor at the Department of Performing Arts at LHÍ 2018-2025 and played the role of professional director of the acting program in collaboration with others 2018-2024. 

Halldóra worked along with her work at LHÍ in Borgarleichús. She asked herself and answered in a minute video before and after the show “ how do I hand over an equally valuable play to the audience despite my physical and mental obstacles?” Halldóra met the question more often than she would have suspected when the play 9 Líf was well received. How does an actor deal with the repetition? 

What game interpretation methods do we use?  

Are we aware of the methodology we use? 

How is the conversation about interpretation methods within the class? 

In this seminar, the focus will be on play interpretation methods in the work of actors. What methods do working actors actually use in their work? How aware are they of the methods they use - and how much of the work is based on knowledge and methods that have become so common that they are used unconsciously? 

We also discuss the conversation within the acting profession about acting interpretation Do we have a common language/discourse to discuss the work? Do we talk enough about our methods, tools and work processes? How does this all affect the professional conversation between actors and the general discourse about acting? 

The seminar is based on a conversation with working actors and is part of the Praxis - performing arts congress of LHÍ, which will take place on September 19, 2026, in LHÍ Laugarnesvegi. The participants are actors Ilmur Kristjánsdóttir, Oddur Júlíusson, Sólveig Arnarsdóttir and Stefán Jónsson. Discussions are moderated by actor Agnar Jón Egilsson, associate professor and director of acting studies at LHÍ. 

Oddur Júlíusson graduated from the LHÍ acting program in the spring of 2013 and has been a permanent resident at the National Theater since then. There he has acted in various and varied works during that period, but has also taken on assistant directing, designing stage movements within the building as well as other projects. Beside the theater, he has acted in several films and television series, taught acting interpretation at LHÍ and written for television. 

Ilmur Kristjánsdóttir graduated from the acting department of LHÍ 2003. She has acted in a number of plays, TV shows and films and composed material for television and theater. She plays in Eltum veðin, Nýja eldhús by case and Lína Langsokk in the National Theater this winter and directed Elskan, am I at home? at LA. She played here in Not the case, Seven adventures about shame, Yerma, the Christmas party, the Rhinos, the Kópavogur Crown where she was one of the authors of the play, the Angel, the Dictator, the Iceland clock, Gerpla, Ivanov and Hedda Gabler. She was the author and co-director of the LR's Lüs Icelandic Day, and the TV series Systraband, Ófærd and the Girls. She was the author and co-director of the Randalín and the Christmas Day in December, and the Icelandic calendar. 

Sólveig Arnarsdóttir graduated from the Ernst Busch Theatre School in Berlin in 2000 and has since performed extensively both in Germany and in Iceland She has worked both on stage and in film and television and was for years a permanent resident at the famous Volksbühne Theatre in Berlin She began working at the City Theatre in autumn 2021 and her recent projects include the Princess Games, With God in her Pocket, Sheriff of Death and Miss Iceland Sólveig has received numerous awards and recognitions for her performance in films and on stage, both domestically and abroad. 

Stefan Jonsson graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, 1989. Stefán's role on the country's stages is dozens. He started his career at the City Theatre, but then spent most of his time employed at the National Theatre. Stefán has also played a number of roles with independent theater groups, on television and films. 

Among Stefán's directing projects at the National Theater are the Túskilding Opera, Leg, Hreining, Baðstofan, Draumatífurinn and Seven Adventures of Shame. Among his directing projects at the City Theater are: Sporvagninn Girnd, Belgian Congo, Helgi Þór rofnar, On his own, Lúna and Sýslumður dauðan. 

Stefán Jónsson has been nominated many times for Grímunn for his work, both as an actor and director. He has received Grímuna three times; for directing Kvetch and Sjö ættur om sóm, and as choreographer of the year, together with a theater group, for Avoid us. 

Stefán held the position of professional director and later professor at the Department of Performing Arts at the Iceland Academy of the Arts, 2008-2018.