A Fistful of Empty Hands

Project by Simona Semenič and Rok Vevar
Premiera 3.1.2001, PTL

Starring in the performance »A Fistful of Empty Hands« are four pairs of hands. Every pair has it’s owner, and every owner his or her story: the first is limited by rules and regulations, the second tries to brave his studying efforts, the third get acquainted with the deceiving clatter of gold pieces, and the fourth is faced towards remembering. Two of them never manage to touch each other, the other two do not even try so. The only thing they have in common is diffuseness, and the fact that they have taken their stories into their own hands. When they manage to hang on for once, they do so with their bare hands. With their fists full of rules, studying tools, gold pieces and memories, however, they will end up empty-handed as a rule.

»A Fistfull of Empty Hands« has been criticaly characterized as »a squandering gift of pure and unpretentious beauty« as well as »a promising debut of the upcoming generation« by leading Slovenian dance and theatre critic Blaz Lukan in newspaper »DELO« and that »extraordinary expressive and creative power has been demonstrated in a gesture material which because of its pureness works by itself (as skecth for the viewer’s own associative actions)« as written by Anja Golob for newspaper »VECER«. – A Fistful of Empty Hands has been also proclaimed for »Slovenian theatre debut of 2001« and been voted for as one of the »6 best Slovenian theatre and dance performances of 2001« by editorial board for art & culture programme of a »Studio City« on The Slovene National TV.

Project by Simona Semenič and Rok Vevar
Premiera 3.1.2001, PTL

Cast and Crew

Performed by: Miha Arh, Lucija ?irović, Alenka Kozolc, Nana Milčinski
Concept: Rok Vevar, Simona Semenič
Directing: Rok Vevar
Dramaturgy: Simona Semenič
Music and sound: Peter Kus
Lighting design: Andrej Hajdinjak, Davor Balent
Produced by: Museum Ljubljana
In co-production with: Dance Theatre of Ljubljana
Post-production by: Nataša Zavolovšek, Simona Semenič and Rok Vevar for Maska Productions
Premiere: 3. 12. 2001, Dance Theatre Ljubljana

About Author

Rok Vevar (1973) studied comparative literature at Faculty of Humanities and theatre directing at Academy for Theatre, Radio, Film and TV in Ljubljana. He is a publicist (DELO Daily, VECER Daily, Radio Student, MASKA, Lutka, Frakcija, Catalogue of Slovene National Theatre Drama Ljubljana, Catalogue of City Theatre of Ljubljana, editor of various Festival Catalogues, Literatura etc.) theatre director and member of the editorial board of Maska magazine. Worked on various projects as a dramaturg (Dance Theatre Ljubljana), an assistant director at Slovene TV (documentary programme), author of lyrics for a cinematic band Pavel Vlasov Sextet (Slovene Cinematheque) etc. and has been a member of various editorial boards of theatre magazines (Lutka, Maska). Currently he works as a selector for Gibanica/ Moving Cake, Slovene Dance festival (selection 2005) and as a executive producer and author of Slovene Contemporary Theatre and Dance Archive Project.

Simona Semenič (1975) studied law at Facultas Iuridica and dramaturgy at the Academy for theatre, radio, film and TV in Ljubljana. As an assistant dramaturg she worked in the City Theatre of Ljubljana (with director Zvone Sedlbauer), Slovene National Theatre in Nova Gorica (with director Lary Zappia), as a dramaturg in a dance/ performance art project ‘What A Feeling’ (dancer and choreographer Nina Meško) (2003). In 2003 she started working with director Ivan Talijančič and his theatre company Wax Factory, New York. Their first mutual project was ‘Cleansed’ (2003) at the Exodos, Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, in Ljubljana, currently they are working on a new project (4.48 Psychosis), which is to be premiered at Cankarjev dom in February 2005. She has been a member of the artistic board of Exodos festival, Ljubljana. She is writing short stories, which are being published in various Slovenian magazines. She also works on the reaserch projects at the Peace Institute, Institute for Contemporary Social and Political Studies in Ljubljana. Currently she is dramatizing stories for children, which are to be presented at MiniTeater Ljubljana in fall 2004.

Solo No Peek, that was premiered in November 2003, is a second theatre work of Rok Vevar and Simona Semenič – a young directors’ team that started to work together at Academy for theatre, radio, film and TV in Ljubljana, Slovenia in 1998 – and was extremely well received both by the public and by critics. Co-produced by Maska Ljubljana and GLEJ Theatre, Solo No Peek has been recently compared to the work of Richard Maxwell, a rising star and a promise of a contemporary american theatre.

See also

  • Recent projects
  • Počemučka: Voyager
  • Peekaboo Pointe visting Maska
  • Maska visiting the Frankfurt Book Fair 2023
  • NOW IS HERE!
  • Performance Festival 2023
  • SoToSpeak 2022/2023
  • The Future is Feminist
  • Peak
  • Crises
  • Undecidable Question
  • All projects