Into thin air
With a strong social message on power and abuse, Ixidor's L-Ghalliema is certainly no disappearing act
They say teaching is a cushy job, but having been present to Teatru Ixidor's rehearsals for their upcoming play, L-Ghalliema (The Teacher), it looks more like a punching bag to me.
Set in a timeless village, L-Ghalliema centres on the plight of a nameless teacher, whose life and that of those she loves are slowly destroyed by Pedro, once her friend and lover, whose power as a sergeant under a new government has corrupted him and fuels him to seek revenge on all those whose taunts on his being an orphan still ring in his ear.
Inspired by La Maestra, a play by Mexican playwright and founder of the Teatro Experimental de Cali, Enrique Buenaventura, L-Ghalliema is about the threats and false accusations that corrupt authorities exert on people. In turn, the victims disappear and, despite the news items the sheer amount of which have the effect of blunting our consciousness, they are finally rendered anonymous and faceless. Those who are left behind are caught in the conundrum of either taking action and putting themselves at risk or not taking action and opting for self-preservation.
"What L-Ghalliema does is breathe life into the victims and gives them a voice," says Charles Sammut, who is directing the play. "In turn, the play makes the viewer a witness, aware of the tragedies that victims of political and domestic abuse are living."
"L-Ghalliema takes place in a dystopia the exact location of which we are not told. It is far from our comfortably safe lives. Yet at the same time, it is near because abuse is universal, inherent in every society," continues Mr Sammut. "As part of our research and our collaboration with Amnesty International, Malta, we watched films like The Road to Guantanamo and read news items on, for instance, the disappearances of women in Mexico and Pakistan. Yet the play's relevance in the local context owes to the possibility of anyone being a victim; anyone can be rendered powerless in the tide of events and abuse."
The process involved in producing L-Ghalliema is also influenced by Buenaventura's method of Collective Creation, in which the hierarchical order of author, director and actor is undermined. In fact, the script was written according to Buenaventura's theory, which states that the actor, director, playwright all contribute to the making of the image; they are all playwrights. The director and all the actors involved in L-Ghalliema were responsible for writing the script. During workshops, actors experimented with improvisation, physical theatre, collective and individual work. Afterwards, each actor wrote the scenes, which were eventually used by Mr Sammut to build the script. L-Ghalliema starts with the teacher narrating her death. The stage is almost bare, with a village on the right, a bar to the left, and a red cloth in the middle. Then we are shown the events that led to the teacher's death, played out using a variety of forms, including dance, song, poetry, physical theatre, the use of masks and live music provided by David Camilleri on viola, Chris Cini on violin and Kevin Spiteri on guitar. This fusion proves particularly effective, especially in the scenes involving the rape of Alejandra and the torture of Peregrino, the mayor, during which actors are out of their character and work as an ensemble. The power of such scenes of violence and impending doom owes to the contrast with scenes of domesticity, where victims are fleshed out from names in newspapers into real human beings.
"At times, the actors push the audience outside the story," says Mr Sammut. "Their intention is to put the narrative aside and give the audience time to bring abuse from the periphery to the centre of their consciousness; to think and act."
On the play
Adrian Azzopardi Pedro
L-Ghalliema is about the relationship between power and corruption, as is embodied in the character which I play.
Mario Abela Tobias
The process of taking Enrique Buenaventura's play, La Maestra, and developing it was challenging. Alejandra, for instance, is a new character, while others which in the original are just a sentence were developed into fuller characters.
Sharon Bezzina Alejandra
The primary value of the play is that it raises the audience's level of awareness to abuse, stories of which are normally read or seen as news items. No one should treat these news items as run of the mill, daily events.
Christine Borg Juana
L-Ghalliema is not only about the victims which are a direct hit of such abuses but also about the painful effect such abuse has on those who are left behind.
Stephen Buhagiar Peregrino
An interesting part of the process was that before the script was finalised and we were given our character, we had to play all the characters. The different forms of theatre we use also add power to the play.
Daniela Delia The teacher
The play is not just about power and abuse. There is a recurrent positive element, in that everyone has a voice, and everyone can act.
Elisa Delia Asunscion
The process of Collective Creation allowed us actors to add to our involvement by bringing our own experiences to the play.
• L-Ghalliema, in collaboration with Amnesty International, Malta, is being staged on Saturday and Sunday at the MITP at 8 p.m. Tickets may be booked from St James Cavalier on 2122 3200.
Set in a timeless village, L-Ghalliema centres on the plight of a nameless teacher, whose life and that of those she loves are slowly destroyed by Pedro, once her friend and lover, whose power as a sergeant under a new government has corrupted him and fuels him to seek revenge on all those whose taunts on his being an orphan still ring in his ear.
Inspired by La Maestra, a play by Mexican playwright and founder of the Teatro Experimental de Cali, Enrique Buenaventura, L-Ghalliema is about the threats and false accusations that corrupt authorities exert on people. In turn, the victims disappear and, despite the news items the sheer amount of which have the effect of blunting our consciousness, they are finally rendered anonymous and faceless. Those who are left behind are caught in the conundrum of either taking action and putting themselves at risk or not taking action and opting for self-preservation.
"What L-Ghalliema does is breathe life into the victims and gives them a voice," says Charles Sammut, who is directing the play. "In turn, the play makes the viewer a witness, aware of the tragedies that victims of political and domestic abuse are living."
"L-Ghalliema takes place in a dystopia the exact location of which we are not told. It is far from our comfortably safe lives. Yet at the same time, it is near because abuse is universal, inherent in every society," continues Mr Sammut. "As part of our research and our collaboration with Amnesty International, Malta, we watched films like The Road to Guantanamo and read news items on, for instance, the disappearances of women in Mexico and Pakistan. Yet the play's relevance in the local context owes to the possibility of anyone being a victim; anyone can be rendered powerless in the tide of events and abuse."
The process involved in producing L-Ghalliema is also influenced by Buenaventura's method of Collective Creation, in which the hierarchical order of author, director and actor is undermined. In fact, the script was written according to Buenaventura's theory, which states that the actor, director, playwright all contribute to the making of the image; they are all playwrights. The director and all the actors involved in L-Ghalliema were responsible for writing the script. During workshops, actors experimented with improvisation, physical theatre, collective and individual work. Afterwards, each actor wrote the scenes, which were eventually used by Mr Sammut to build the script. L-Ghalliema starts with the teacher narrating her death. The stage is almost bare, with a village on the right, a bar to the left, and a red cloth in the middle. Then we are shown the events that led to the teacher's death, played out using a variety of forms, including dance, song, poetry, physical theatre, the use of masks and live music provided by David Camilleri on viola, Chris Cini on violin and Kevin Spiteri on guitar. This fusion proves particularly effective, especially in the scenes involving the rape of Alejandra and the torture of Peregrino, the mayor, during which actors are out of their character and work as an ensemble. The power of such scenes of violence and impending doom owes to the contrast with scenes of domesticity, where victims are fleshed out from names in newspapers into real human beings.
"At times, the actors push the audience outside the story," says Mr Sammut. "Their intention is to put the narrative aside and give the audience time to bring abuse from the periphery to the centre of their consciousness; to think and act."
On the play
Adrian Azzopardi Pedro
L-Ghalliema is about the relationship between power and corruption, as is embodied in the character which I play.
Mario Abela Tobias
The process of taking Enrique Buenaventura's play, La Maestra, and developing it was challenging. Alejandra, for instance, is a new character, while others which in the original are just a sentence were developed into fuller characters.
Sharon Bezzina Alejandra
The primary value of the play is that it raises the audience's level of awareness to abuse, stories of which are normally read or seen as news items. No one should treat these news items as run of the mill, daily events.
Christine Borg Juana
L-Ghalliema is not only about the victims which are a direct hit of such abuses but also about the painful effect such abuse has on those who are left behind.
Stephen Buhagiar Peregrino
An interesting part of the process was that before the script was finalised and we were given our character, we had to play all the characters. The different forms of theatre we use also add power to the play.
Daniela Delia The teacher
The play is not just about power and abuse. There is a recurrent positive element, in that everyone has a voice, and everyone can act.
Elisa Delia Asunscion
The process of Collective Creation allowed us actors to add to our involvement by bringing our own experiences to the play.
• L-Ghalliema, in collaboration with Amnesty International, Malta, is being staged on Saturday and Sunday at the MITP at 8 p.m. Tickets may be booked from St James Cavalier on 2122 3200.