On 29 November people who studied and taught at Leiklistarskóli SÁL (the SÁL drama school) handed the school’s archive over to Leikminjasafn Íslands (the Icelandic Theatre Museum).
Leiklistarskóli SÁL was founded in 1972 by young people with a passion for theatre and theatre education. Shortly before, Leikfélag Reykjavíkur (the Reykjavík Theatre Company) and the National Theatre had closed their own schools to press the state to fund formal drama training at university level. Running and organising SÁL was a labour of idealism, driven by creativity and the wish to bring drama training into the present day.
The students took an active part in running the school, and many teaching innovations on the Nordic model saw the light of day, among them a student theatre in which final-year students took part. The group’s goal was finally achieved in 1975, when Leiklistarskóli Íslands (the Icelandic Drama School) was founded: most of SÁL’s students were admitted to the new school, and many teachers from SÁL also started work there.
The picture shows Helga Hjörvar, who leads the committee, and Sigríður Jónsdóttir, a specialist at Leikminjasafn Íslands, signing the deed of transfer. The group’s papers will now be formally catalogued, and the aim is to hold an exhibition on this remarkable work in autumn 2022, 50 years after the school was founded.
Leikminjasafn and the National and University Library of Iceland warmly thank Leiklistarskóli SÁL.