2007 » Slovenia » National section

Play of Spaces - Meta Hočevar

Thinking Space beyond Stage Design The history of Meta Hočevar’s theatrical work, her “play spaces,” form a spatial history of the major shifts in contemporary theatre and the performing arts in Slovenia. With her play spaces, which go beyond the narrow frame of what is normally referred to as set design, she – in the words of Lado Kralj – “made a major and marked break from the tradition. The stage scenery is no longer merely the visual illustration of a text, it no longer adheres to the principle of ‘being unobtrusive’ but, on the contrary, draws attention to its part in the production”. The theatrical oeuvre of Meta Hočevar (currently comprising over 200 designs) “changed theatre stage design in Slovenia and Yugoslavia”, wrote Radivoje Dinulović. “An emptied, purified scenic space, determined with a few key elements...the underscored spatial planes, the focus on new materials and technical means of scenic design, the use of light and a whole range of creative procedures developed by Meta Hočevar have become and remain a subject of stage design research to this day”. Meta Hočevar sees her play spaces as something that “can be molded, and by molding, express space as a medium which is definitely articulated in a synthesis with the other components of the performance”. Stage design as the space-time of a performance is, of course, a far cry from the postulates of the literary or the conceptualist “scenery-centric” theatre of images serving their own purpose. Theatrical space, or better, “play space” is the space where everything comes together. It is a space where we need all our senses. And, it is a space that must be understood – as Paul Klee understood a painting – as something that also marks time: “When a point becomes movement and consequently a line, then this requires some time”. (Tomaž Toporišič) Born in 1942 in Ljubljana, Meta Hočevar completed her bachelor’s degree in architecture from the Faculty of Architecture in Ljubljana; since 1972 she has dedicated herself almost exclusively to the theatre: first to scenic and costume design, and from 1984 also to directing. She has collaborated with several major European and American theatres and festivals as a stage designer, costume designer, and director, and received numerous awards for her achievements.