Performing Arts - Live Theater - Theatre Productions
BREADCRUMBS
Follow the trail… if you dare. BREADCRUMBS, the haunting, lyrical play by Jennifer Haley, comes to Tjarnarbio, Reykjavik for a limited engagement.
A poetic story about the relationship between two complicated women. Alida is a reclusive fiction writer who has been diagnosed with dementia. She begrudgingly must depend upon Beth, a troubled young caregiver who offers to help Alida complete her autobiography. Together they delve into the dark woods of Alida's past, unearthing a tragedy that shatters their notions of language, loneliness, and essential self.
Originally produced April 2026 by Off The Wall and Viva Holding in Pittsburgh/USA
WHAT CRITICS SAY
'BURGH VIVANT, PITTSBURGH
"An evening with two unique characters played by two xxtraordinary actors...Gruenert is superb as the flawed Alida..."
ENTERTAINMENT CENTRAL
"..ONE HECK OF A SWAN SONG."
Off the WALL’s grand finale...
ON STAGE, PITTSBURGH
"Gruenert and Cuenca both shine in unexpected ways... The original music and sound design by Icelandic composer Iris Thorarins create an ethereal, haunting dissonance..."
CREDITS
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​Playwright - Jennifer Haley
​Director - Juliette Louste
Stage Manager - Adrienne Wells
​​Dramaturg - Marketing - Gigja Sara Bjornsson
Set Design - Stephanie Mayer Staley
Lighting Design - Juliette Louste
Original Music and Sound Design - Iris Thorarins
Video and Projection Design - Owen Hindley
Director (Pittsburgh) - Ingrid Sonnichsen
Props and Costume Design (PGH) - Laura Irene Young
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Alida - Virginia Wall Gruenert
Beth - Birgitta Birgisdottir
Birgitta Birgisdottir
Birgitta Birgisdóttir graduated from the Department of Drama at the Icelandic Academy of Arts in 2006. She has played leading roles in numerous projects at the National Theatre and the City Theatre. She has also participated in independent projects at the Tjarnarbíó and Hafnarfjörður Theatres. Roles include Konstanza as Mozart's wife in Amadeus, Margarita in The Master and Margarita, Titania/Hippolyte in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Anja in The Cherry Orchard, Ásta in the play of the same name, Mrs. Árland in The Atomic Energy Commission, and many other roles. Birgitta has also acted in numerous television series and films. Her projects on Netflix include KATLA and THE VALHALLA MURDERS. Her latest project is the series Boltamömmur, which will premiere this fall on Síminn's television network. Birgitta has also narrated a number of audiobooks, and received the Storytel Audiobook Award for the book The Murders in Dillon's House. Birgitta has also received several nominations for the Icelandic Grímunn Performing Arts Award.
Virginia Wall Gruenert
Virginia is co-founder and Executive Artistic Director of off the WALL and Viva Holding, Iceland. A native of New York City, Virginia grew up in New Jersey and is a graduate of Syracuse University’s Drama Department. She has studied acting, voice, and movement in both New York and London (National Theater, Bristol Old Vic), and in Los Angeles with the legendary Stella Adler.
Her play Shaken & Stirred was the first play ever produced by off the WALL (2007). A relative newcomer to southwestern PA at the time, Ginny initially played all four roles. She subsequently rewrote Shaken & Stirred for four actors, and the play had a successful run at Theater 54 in New York City in October of 2011. Her full-length play Without Ruth had its world premiere with off the WALL in May 2013. This play was adapted to the one-woman solo piece, Mother Lode, that ran in repertory at off the WALL in 2016, had its New York City premiere in February of 2018 at Urban Stages, and its international premiere at Tjarnarbio Theatre, Reykjavik, in 2023.
Acting credits - NYC: Tin Church (The Chain Theater), What Kind of Woman (Nancy Manocherian’s the cell), Shaken & Stirred (Theater 54), ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore (Perry St. Theatre), Camelot Revisited (Theater for the New City). Syracuse Stage: Ah, Wilderness!, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Kennedy’s Children, among others. off the WALL: Shaken & Stirred (Various), Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Martha), Season’s Greetings…! (Jocelyn), Agnes of God (Martha Livingstone), ‘night, Mother (Thelma), The House of Yes (Mrs. Pascal), The Other Place (Julianna), Well (Ann), Ghosts (Mrs. Alving), Byhalia, MS (Celeste), What Kind of Woman (Nora). Virginia is a proud member of The Dramatists Guild of America, Inc., The League of Professional Theatre Women, International Center for Women Playwrights, and Actors’ Equity Association.
