Reykjavík City Theatre – Iceland’s very popular and oldest continuously operating theatre company, founded in 1897 as the Reykjavík Theatre Company – has invested in more Robe T2 Profile moving lights, following the great success of their first batch purchased in 2023.

The first 16 x T2 Profiles – supplied via Robe’s Icelandic distributor Luxor – were picked to replace the venue’s previous front lights, which were 15 years old at the time, explained head of AV, Steinar Snæbjörnsson, who leads the technical department.

These T2 Profiles were installed on the front bar and the other 19 on the bridges, taking the theatre’s front lighting capacity to new levels.

Owned and part funded by Iceland’s buzzing capital city, and with a big emphasis on arts and culture throughout this vibrant island nation, the venue receives resources annually which are judiciously spent on ensuring that the very highest production values can be maintained.

The theatre has an excellent reputation for producing a diverse range of classic drama, dance and musical shows through to a selection of raw, visceral new works from cutting-edge young writers and directors across its three performance halls. The capacities are 549, 240 and 180 respectively, and the T2 profiles are in the main auditorium.

All production elements are managed in-house, and there are substantial lighting, sound, and multimedia departments, plus set / props workshops, costume, wigs and make-up as well as all the administration, so in Iceland, this is a major cultural hub.

Steinar has a full-time technical crew of seven – three on audio and four on lighting – plus regular freelancers.

In 2024 and 2025, following great success with the T2s in the main house, the front lights on the smaller stages were also updated with 18 x Robe T1 Profiles – 10 deployed on the “New Stage” and 8 on the “Small Stage”.

At the start of 2026, they conducted another shootout seeking a fixture to replace the old moving lights on LX bars 1 and 2 … and once again, the Robe T2 Profiles proved the best option!

Another 21 x T2 Profile fixtures have been delivered and will be installed over the summer.

The technical production industry is cosy in Iceland; everyone knows one another, and collaborations are frequent. As with all tight-knit communities, most involved in Iceland’s technical production sphere can and do multiplex, specialising in more than one discipline, and often they will be working for more than one organisation!

Thanks to the hard work and dedication of Luxor, Robe has enjoyed a strong presence in Iceland for several years.

Steinar arrived at the City Theatre in 2020, and during the Covid period, he and his colleagues used their time to start overhauling and modernising various elements of the Theatre’s technical infrastructure. The initial T2 Profile purchase was part of this, and these were the first Robe products in the house.

This decision was preceded by an extensive shootout with all the relevant technical staff involved in the decision: “It’s important that the crew using the kit day to day are part of this process,” explained Steinar.

“Being front light, colour temperature and colour mixing were important features,” he stressed, “The fixtures in these positions have to light people, costumes and scenery, so there is plenty of finessing with the colour,” and with Robe’s MSL (Multi-Spectral Light) LED engine, the T2 was easily the best option when considering this criterion.

He adds that they were also impressed with the brightness, the smooth dimming and the precision shuttering – all essential for theatre lighting.

With the City Theatre’s LDs all happy, including senior lighting designer Pálmi Jónsson, Steinar was happy to green light the investment.

He was already aware of Robe as a brand prior to arriving at the theatre, commenting that he has “always regarded Robe products as high quality, consistent and reliable.” On top of that, everyone there has enjoyed a great long-term working relationship and excellent service and backup from Luxor.

Reykjavík City Theatre’s main hall stages around 4 substantial shows a week, with the musical Moulin Rouge – lit by Pálmi – currently being the main long-running production.