quean : kven : queen is an interdisciplinary concert performance created by musician Sóley Stefánsdóttir and director Samantha Shay.

Stefánsdóttir and Shay’s multi-year collaboration through music, film, and dance has centered on themes of ecofeminism, climate grief, the challenge of being present in the world.

The piece begins with a deep and impenetrable silence, which slowly transforms into its opposite, where are the boundaries between silence and noise, what happened when the women walked out?

On October 24th, on the 50th anniversary of the women’s solidarity movement in Iceland, Soley and Samantha collaborate for the first time in a live performance, which begins from a powerful and pervasive silence, into a living sculpture that asks a myriad of questions, starting with how touching on themes of ecofeminism, patriarchy and climate grief may lead us into seeing how all systems of oppression are intrinsically inter related.

With a stage inhabited by musicians, dancers, actors, and large scale film projections and visual textures encapsulating the entire space, as well as the unique acoustic abilities of Salurinn, the performance does not leave the audience with a single viewpoint, but offers them an environment in which to contemplate and inhabit a world we grieve for, and what we might imagine possible on this historic day, giving gratitude to women who have paved the way for all.

Quean : Kven : Queen

Created by Sóley Stefánsdóttir and Samantha Shay

Music by: Sóley Stefánsdóttir

Stage direction by Samantha Shay

Projection Design: Katerina Blahutova and Samantha Shay

Lighting Design: Katerina Blahutova

Dramaturgy: Nína Hjálmars

Costume Design: Angela Trivino

Graphics by Íbbagoggur and FISK

Poster design: Íbbagoggur

Producing Assistance: Arabella Morgan

Poster Photo: Saga Sig

Original Text written by Marissa Chibas Preston, Samantha Shay & Chalia La Tour

Performed by:

Barbara Kaufmann

Chalia La Tour

Kristín Þóra Haraldsdóttir

Maria Carmela Raso

Marissa Chibas Preston

Rósa Guðrún Sveinsdóttir

Sóley Stefánsdóttir

Þórdís Gerður Jónsdóttir

Ægir Sindri Bjarnason