Set design
In 1938, the sky lit up with an aurora borealis light storm, which was seen all across Europe. According to many, the phenomenon portends war. At the same time, a woman is brutally murdered on the outskirts of Maribor.
Thus begins Severni sij. Marjetica (Northern Lights. Marjetica). The play, directed by Primož Ekart, is based on Drago Jančar's acclaimed 1984 novel Severni sij (Northern Lights). Ekart explores the roots of violence, both in intimate relationships and in society.
Credits:
Director: Primož Ekart
Costume designer: Tina Kolenik
Choreographer: Rosana Hribar
Composers: Duo Silence
Video designer: Vesna Krebs Lighting
Light designer: Andrej Hajdinjak
Photo: Matej Povše
Produced by Imaginarni and City Theatre Ptuj
Set design
In 1938, the sky lit up with an aurora borealis light storm, which was seen all across Europe. According to many, the phenomenon portends war. At the same time, a woman is brutally murdered on the outskirts of Maribor.
Thus begins Severni sij. Marjetica (Northern Lights. Marjetica). The play, directed by Primož Ekart, is based on Drago Jančar's acclaimed 1984 novel Severni sij (Northern Lights). Ekart explores the roots of violence, both in intimate relationships and in society.
Credits:
Director: Primož Ekart
Costume designer: Tina Kolenik
Choreographer: Rosana Hribar
Composers: Duo Silence
Video designer: Vesna Krebs Lighting
Light designer: Andrej Hajdinjak
Photo: Matej Povše
Produced by Imaginarni and Ljubljana Puppet Theatre
Set design
The play Just Don’t Stop! by Simone Hamer draws from Horace McCoy’s novel They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?, highlighting the struggles of the Great Depression and the harsh realities of show business. Directed by Primož Ekart, it tells the story of participants in a gruelling dance marathon, emphasizing themes of existential hardship and exploitation. The play reflects the plight of the modern precariat—those living in constant insecurity and stress—exposing the bleak nature of reality TV shows that often exploit contestants for profit, pushing them to their limits.
Credits:
Director: Primož Ekart
Dramaturgy: Simona Hamer
Set designer co-author: JAŠA
Costume designer: Tina Kolenik
Choreographer: Rosana Hribar
Composers: Duo Silence
Music selection: Darja Hlavka Godina, Primož Ekart
Video designer: Vesna Krebs Lighting
Light designer: Andrej Hajdinjak
Slovene National Theatre Maribor
Set design and puppets
Director Primož Ekart, in his original production, speaks about the fragility of the moments at the end of human life, filled with intense memories and reckonings with oneself and the world. It tells the story of an invisible woman on the edge of life, slipping by unnoticed. Even her departure will go unnoticed. The creative team of the poetic drama Invisible is interested in the intimate stories of individual lives, focusing mainly on the themes of departure and farewell, often accompanied by feelings of loneliness. The central theme of the production also revolves around the awareness of human entanglement in current social events and the world of the present moment. The current social circumstances are not favourable towards the elderly. Ageism, a form of discrimination against older people that we are often unaware of because we have likely internalized it, manifests in many ways. In its most severe form, it is happening now as society treats the elderly and the helpless as unnecessary, superfluous people who, during the pandemic, might occupy and strain hospital capacities, potentially hindering the treatment of younger, more economically valuable individuals. This object theatre production, incorporating elements of intermedia performance practices, is a personal, emotional imprint of an intimate event occurring in (self)isolation, set against the backdrop of broader societal events.
Credits:
Director: Primož Ekart
Costume designer: Tina Kolenik Choreographer: Rosana Hribar Composers: Bowrian
Video: Vid Hajnšek, Domen Martinčič
Lighting designer: Andrej Hajdinjak
Photo: Matej Povše
Set design
The choreography is based on the works by Slovenian painter Rihard Jakopič, capturing the moments that witness a remarkable sense of movement and drama. Interpreting a specific work of art depends on the observer’s personal view, complementing its entirety with their experience. Still, Jakopič's studies and paintings are designed to make a call for careful consideration of the broader context of what we see and offer, at the same time, an exceptional starting point for developing a series of events that may lead to dynamic stage action. The interpretation of the works of art offered by the performance occurs within the seemingly unrelated transitions between the positions in space, physical gestures and forms. The compositional entireties are not literal depictions of Jakopič's works but serve as a basis for creating a new – dance whole, in which neither the dance interprets the music nor the music plays for the dance. However, the mentioned elements are drawn from the same source material. (Matjaž Farič)
Credits:
Choreographer Matjaž Farič
Music Milko Lazar
Dramaturge Staša Prah
Costume Designer Uroš Belantič
Produced by: Slovenian National Opera House, Ljubljana
Kinetic installation for ballet
This monumental kinetic installation is not a mere backdrop but an active participant, embodying motion and creating a visceral connection with the dancers. It serves as an organic, dynamic presence, seamlessly integrating into the choreography and narrative of the performance. Through its movement, the audience is drawn into spaces that feel both familiar and dreamlike, reflecting a world overwhelmed by chaotic images and information. Amid this fragmentation, a yearning for clarity emerges, a desire to craft a coherent narrative that captures our identities within this disjointed reality. Inspired by a departure from convention, the performance embraces the poetic language of dance, establishing dreamlike patterns that do not impose order but instead celebrate the significance of dreams in understanding ourselves and our world. Dreams offer unique clarity within the chaos, rooted in intuition and imagination.
Credits:
Coreographer: Sanja Nešković Peršin
Music: Drago Ivanuša
Costume Designer: Uroš Belantič
Lighting Designer: Borut Bučinel
Produced by: Slovenian National Opera House, Ljubljana
Kinetic installation for ballet: aluminium, plastic, a motorized, programmable theatre grid;
variable dimensions
A kinetic installation inhabits the stage space. Its dimensions are so large that it functions as parallel surroundings. Many repetitive elements made of aluminium and plastic nets create translucency, while the curves evoke soft contours of petals with brightly glittering edges. The metamorphoses of dancing forms and movements create a materialized illusion that extends into the horizon. Occasionally, this sublime setting comes to a standstill only to gain powerful momentum, “creating situations such as a garden, a haven, a threat, a nearness, a distance, a night-and-day.” Once the kinetic installation is lowered onto the stage surface, it creates a segmented palimpsest of danger. This is when the space of love is transposed into the realm of the invisible – the beyond.
Credits:
Co-author (kinetic sculpture): JAŠA
Choreographer: Dan Datcu
Concept: Sanja Nešković Peršin
Music: Sašo Kalan
Costume Designer: Uroš Belantič
Dramaturge: Barbara Novakovič Kolenc
Lighting Designer: Jaka Šimenc
Produced by: Slovenian National Opera House, Ljubljana
Site-specific installation of kinetic sculptures, lights, sound and performance
A site-specific installation of kinetic sculptures, lights, sound, and performance is based on the motives taken from the book “To the Lighthouse” by modernist writer Virginie Woolf.
A site-specific spatial layout of moving images, objects, music, light and performance was based on the motives taken from the book “To the Lighthouse” by modernist writer Virginie Woolf.
The installation was placed in a tunnel, an off-space part of the Puppet Theatre Ljubljana.
The rhythm of the space was dictated by moving objects, spoken words, sounds, music and performance; they followed the atmosphere, containing the fragments of their story.
The excitement stemmed from pursuing a slight balance between the inner desire to become an artist and belonging to intimacy within the family, to find happiness in small everyday miracles, which can be embraced only through the grace of time.
The internal dialogue between the objects, music and performance was like an inverted pocket of consciousness, which invited the public to indulge in coloured dreams and impressions of visual and sensual images.
Credits:
Co author: Urša Vidic
Performance: Nataša Živković
Music: BOWRAIN
Lighting Design: Jaka Šimenc
Vocals: Nataša Živković
Musicians on the recording: Eduardo Raon (harp), Vita Kobal (violin), Ema Kobal (cello)
Video Filming and Editing: Maša Nonković
Electro Engineering: Otto Urpelainen
Construction of Individual Elements: France Petač
Photography of Installation: Nada Žgank, Urška Boljkovac
Video Trailer: Puppet Theater Ljubljana
Puppet Theater Ljubljana
Set design
Teja Reba's work navigates the intersections of physical, emotional, and political acts, exploring the boundaries between aesthetics and ideology, and addressing themes of gender and sexuality. In her piece "Made With Love (Work of Love)," she critiques the roles of women as artists, mothers, and precarious workers. Reba contrasts the idealized notion of motherhood with its uncomfortable realities, revealing the chaos and effort behind familial life. She highlights how contemporary precarious working conditions blur the lines between social work and personal life, questioning the economic value of caregiving, childbirth, and artistic production. Ultimately, her work challenges viewers to consider how these intertwined aspects of life can be recognized and valued in society.
Credits:
Author and Choreographer: Teja Reba
Performers: Teja Reba, Loup Abramovici
Dramaturge: Suzana Koncut
Sound Design and Original Music: Eduardo Raon
Set and Lighting Design: Meta Grgurevič and Jaša
Lighting Design and Technical Management: Igor Remeta
Photo: Nada Žgank, Miha Fras
