From Space to Hyper-Space. On Jadwiga Pożakowska's Sceneries on the Small-Audience Stage of the „Wybrzeże” Theatre in Sopot

Abstract

The article `From Space to Hyper-space' aims at examining the scenographic operation of passing from the space of the stage that is limited by physical dimensions, to the space of scenic meanings, on the example of the work of Jadwiga Pożakowska, an artist who has been working in the towns of the Baltic coast for the last half of the century. It is divided into afew parts defining its contents: 1) the time – the first decade of Jadwiga Pożakowska's scenographic work in Sopot (the years 1961-1971), as it is in that period that her artistic sensitivity imposed the visual form on that stage; 2) the place – the Small-Audience Stage of the “Wybrzeże” Theatre in Sopot; 3) the selection of performances – those ones have been chosen whose influence was strong enough to survive, consolidating their position among theatrical achievements, and which were included among the most important by the artist herself. While remaining in the area defined in this way in respect of time and space as well as of the repertoire, an attempt has been made to elicit the peculiar visual features of the performances from a few different scenic realizations, which are the badge of the artistic personality of the scenery author, which is the most appealing in the organization of the stage space. In this respect Jadwiga Pożakowska's theatrical visual art reflects the artistic roots of the “Cracow school”: a deeply rooted consciousness of the creative power of the scenographer in a clash with the stage space, the ability to tame that area even in the extreme conditions of a small area and a lack of a proper base, to overcome limitations and to derive creative power from them.