Matjaž Pograjc. Born 1967,

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

, is a

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

and one of

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

's most prominent theatre artists.

Life and work

Studies in

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

and radio direction (AGRFT,

). In 1990, he founded the Betontanc group, with which he develops and researches choreographical and physical forms of stage expression, employing ideologically oriented themes – especially from the world of urban adolescence. Another important part of his research is dedicated to verbal theatrical structure; with the aid of the

Mladinsko Theatre The Slovenian Youth Theatre or Mladinsko Theatre ( sl, Slovensko mladinsko gledališče) was founded in Ljubljana in 1955 as the first professional theater for children and youth in Slovenia. It is situated in the Baraga Seminary, which was built ...

ensemble, Pograjc explores a directional concept based on original interpretations of contemporary dramatic texts or the contributions of the acting team. His method of interpretation involves different genres of pop culture, under which he discovers modern archetypal models of a lost civilization, chaos, violence and cruelty.(Source: Jana Pavlič, Castration Machines, Maska 2001)

Major works

: *

Bernard-Marie Koltès Bernard-Marie Koltès (; 9 April 1948 – 15 April 1989) was a French playwright and theatre director best known for his plays ''La Nuit juste avant les Forêts'' (''The Night Just Before the Forests'', 1976), ''Sallinger'' (1977) and ''Dans la ...

: ''Roberto Zucco'', 1996 * ''Butterendfly'' (based on M. Butterfly by

David Henry Hwang David Henry Hwang (born August 11, 1957) is an American playwright, librettist, screenwriter, and theater professor at Columbia University in New York City. He has won three Obie Awards for his plays '' FOB'', '' Golden Child'', and '' Yellow ...

, 1995). * ''A Place I've Never Been'', 1996. * D. Z. Frey: ''Tirza'', 1997. * ''Who's Afraid of

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the thre ...

?'', 1999. * ''The House of Bernarda Alba'' (based on

Federico García Lorca Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936), known as Federico García Lorca ( ), was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblemat ...

, 2000. * J. M. Barrie – M. Pograjc: ''Peter Pan'', 2001. *

Peter Weiss Peter Ulrich Weiss (8 November 1916 – 10 May 1982) was a German writer, painter, graphic artist, and experimental filmmaker of adopted Swedish nationality. He is particularly known for his plays ''Marat/Sade'' and ''The Investigation'' and hi ...

: ''The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat'', 2002. * ''Play it Again, Caligula'' (based on

Albert Camus Albert Camus ( , ; ; 7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, and journalist. He was awarded the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the second-youngest recipient in history. His work ...

: Caligula), 2003. * Daša Doberšek, Branko Jordan, Nataša Matjašec: ''Luluby'', 2004. *

Tena Štivičić Tena Štivičić (; born 1977) is a Croatian playwright and screenwriter. She won the 2014-2015 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Life She was born in Zagreb where she studied at the Academy of Dramatic Art. She completed an MA in Writing for Performa ...

: ''Fragile!'', 2005. * Fabio Rubiano O.: ''The Whale’s Belly'', 2006. * ''Love to Death'' (A concert for a chef, six apprentices and three dishwashers), 2007. * Betontanc: * ''Poets without Pockets, Ljubljana'', 1990. * ''Romeo and Juliet'', Ljubljana, 1991. * ''Every Word a Gold Coin Worth'', Ljubljana, 1992. * ''Wet Hanky Thieves'', Ljubljana, Angers, 1993. * ''Know Your Enemy!'', Ljubljana, 1995. * ''On Three Sides of Heaven'', Ljubljana, 1997. * ''The Secret Sunshine Schedule'', Bunker Productions, Ljubljana, 1999. * ''Midnight Meat Flight'', 2000. * ''Maison des rendez-vous'', Ljubljana, Rennes, 2002. * ''Wrestling Dostoievsky'', Vienna, 2004. * ''Everybody for Berlusconi'', Junghollandia and Betontanc, 2004. * ''Show Your Face!'', Betontanc and Umka.LV, 2006.

Honours, awards and recognitions

* Grand prix Bagnolet '92, Paris, 1992 * Borštnik Award for special achievements, Maribor, Slovenia, 1992 * Prešeren Fund Award for directions in Mladinsko Theatre and Betontanc, Ljubljana, Slovenia, 1997 * Best breakthrough choreographer-director in the »Top Five in New York 2000« section of the New York Times (after the tour in La MaMa with The Secret Sunshine Schedule), New York, USA, 2000 * The Villanueva Award to the performance Who's Afraid of Tennessee Williams? as one of the best foreign productions in Cuba, 2003 * Marul Award for best direction for Fragile!, Days of Marulić Festival, Split, Croatia, 2006 * Grand Prix of the Borštnik Drama Meeting for Fragile!, Maribor, Slovenia, 2006

References

External links

Tena Štivičić's Fragile at 52nd Sterijino Pozorje Festival/ Mladinsko Theatre
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pograjc, Matjaz 1967 births Living people Theatre people from Ljubljana Slovenian theatre directors Slovenian choreographers