The surreal life on stage
Coryse Borg learns that Ophelia's Maids, a new piece of writing, is a surreality show as opposed to a reality show
A few months ago, local actress Annabelle Galea was passing through the St James Cavalier café when she stopped and did a double take. For who was sitting there sipping a coffee but Scottish director/actress/theatre lecturer Lizzie Eldridge whom she had worked with last year in a production called Most of All when Lizzie was in Malta!
Annabelle and Lizzie started talking and it transpired that Lizzie was here for six months. A short time later, the idea for a two-hander performance was born.
Presented by OrangeisOrange, Ophelia's Maids is a new piece of writing, which will be performed by the two actresses for an hour at St James Cavalier's Music Room on April 14 and 15. Rather than trying to find a suitable and pre-existing script, Lizzie ended up writing Ophelia's Maids herself. She knew that the obscure characters that she had created would appeal to both herself and Annabelle, as neither of them are used to working with more traditional material.
As a university lecturer in Scotland, Lizzie's main area of expertise is in fact avant garde and experimental theatre. She based her script on the Theatre of the Absurd, an example of a radical period in 20th century European theatre.
Emerging in Paris in the late 1940s and 1950s, absurdist plays are characterised by their refusal to adhere to previous models of theatrical construction, creating drama without traditional plotlines, identifiable and rounded characters, or logical dialogue. Although never a coherent theatrical movement, absurdist theatre is largely associated with the work of Samuel Beckett, Jean Genet, Eugene Ionesco and Arthur Adamov.
"The play focuses on a love-hate relationship between two unnamed women whose precise identities remain unknown. Locked in a continuous power struggle, they play games to pass the time and as a means of inflicting cruelty on each other. The two women conjure up imaginary relationships with unseen figures, sometimes adopting the roles of these imagined characters," Lizzie explains.
The two actresses found they worked very well together and shared similarities in terms of theatrical styles and taste; apart from the tendency to consume vast amounts of caffeine and nicotine during the rehearsals... a habit they blame on their mutually bad influence on each other!
"Rehearsals have been extremely interesting but also very difficult. We've been working without a director for most of the rehearsal period which was fine to begin with, but then both of us felt the need for external feedback and input. Various different people came in to act as a third eye but we hit the problem of lack of continuity and the confusion that can arise from a variety of different opinions being offered at different times. Nevertheless, others' opinions - and just the fact of someone else being in the room looking at the work with fresh eyes - has helped us immensely, generating enthusiasm and suggesting new ways of understanding and approaching the play text," says Lizzie.
Annabelle adds: "The process has been really interesting because of the variety of people who networked with us in putting up the piece. For example we worked with Paul Portelli and Denise Mulholland. People like Chris Gatt and Chris Tanti were indispensable in helping us make sense of our work and fine-tuning the piece. It's really been a tough nut to crack and very challenging, if not one of the most challenging works I've ever done."
Lizzie explains that the plot of Ophelia's Maids does not follow a linear structure, but moves between different scenes in which distinctions between fantasy and reality become impossible to sustain.
"I think there will be a mixed response to this drama," Lizzie says. "For people familiar with the Theatre of the Absurd, the central influence in the writing of this play; the characters and themes will bear a clear resemblance to their theatrical predecessors. For others, the play may appear intense, playful, grotesque in equal measures."
"Let's say it provides an interesting alternative to a night glued to a TV set. It's a 'surreality show' as opposed to a 'reality show'! And it's not an everyday experience to get the opportunity of seeing two loony characters exposing their souls in public, and a little bit more!" Annabelle concludes.
• Ophelia's Maids is being presented by OrangeisOrange at St James Cavalier's Music Room today and tomorrow. Tickets may be obtained from St James Cavalier booking office by phne on 2122 3200 or by e-mail: boxoffice@sjcav.org.
Annabelle and Lizzie started talking and it transpired that Lizzie was here for six months. A short time later, the idea for a two-hander performance was born.
Presented by OrangeisOrange, Ophelia's Maids is a new piece of writing, which will be performed by the two actresses for an hour at St James Cavalier's Music Room on April 14 and 15. Rather than trying to find a suitable and pre-existing script, Lizzie ended up writing Ophelia's Maids herself. She knew that the obscure characters that she had created would appeal to both herself and Annabelle, as neither of them are used to working with more traditional material.
As a university lecturer in Scotland, Lizzie's main area of expertise is in fact avant garde and experimental theatre. She based her script on the Theatre of the Absurd, an example of a radical period in 20th century European theatre.
Emerging in Paris in the late 1940s and 1950s, absurdist plays are characterised by their refusal to adhere to previous models of theatrical construction, creating drama without traditional plotlines, identifiable and rounded characters, or logical dialogue. Although never a coherent theatrical movement, absurdist theatre is largely associated with the work of Samuel Beckett, Jean Genet, Eugene Ionesco and Arthur Adamov.
"The play focuses on a love-hate relationship between two unnamed women whose precise identities remain unknown. Locked in a continuous power struggle, they play games to pass the time and as a means of inflicting cruelty on each other. The two women conjure up imaginary relationships with unseen figures, sometimes adopting the roles of these imagined characters," Lizzie explains.
The two actresses found they worked very well together and shared similarities in terms of theatrical styles and taste; apart from the tendency to consume vast amounts of caffeine and nicotine during the rehearsals... a habit they blame on their mutually bad influence on each other!
"Rehearsals have been extremely interesting but also very difficult. We've been working without a director for most of the rehearsal period which was fine to begin with, but then both of us felt the need for external feedback and input. Various different people came in to act as a third eye but we hit the problem of lack of continuity and the confusion that can arise from a variety of different opinions being offered at different times. Nevertheless, others' opinions - and just the fact of someone else being in the room looking at the work with fresh eyes - has helped us immensely, generating enthusiasm and suggesting new ways of understanding and approaching the play text," says Lizzie.
Annabelle adds: "The process has been really interesting because of the variety of people who networked with us in putting up the piece. For example we worked with Paul Portelli and Denise Mulholland. People like Chris Gatt and Chris Tanti were indispensable in helping us make sense of our work and fine-tuning the piece. It's really been a tough nut to crack and very challenging, if not one of the most challenging works I've ever done."
Lizzie explains that the plot of Ophelia's Maids does not follow a linear structure, but moves between different scenes in which distinctions between fantasy and reality become impossible to sustain.
"I think there will be a mixed response to this drama," Lizzie says. "For people familiar with the Theatre of the Absurd, the central influence in the writing of this play; the characters and themes will bear a clear resemblance to their theatrical predecessors. For others, the play may appear intense, playful, grotesque in equal measures."
"Let's say it provides an interesting alternative to a night glued to a TV set. It's a 'surreality show' as opposed to a 'reality show'! And it's not an everyday experience to get the opportunity of seeing two loony characters exposing their souls in public, and a little bit more!" Annabelle concludes.
• Ophelia's Maids is being presented by OrangeisOrange at St James Cavalier's Music Room today and tomorrow. Tickets may be obtained from St James Cavalier booking office by phne on 2122 3200 or by e-mail: boxoffice@sjcav.org.