Ebejer lives on
Charles Flores recalls Malta's foremost playwright who will be paid a tribute by Bronk Productions next week
The last time I met Francis Ebejer was just outside what once was the Allies Bar on the Sliema ferries front where he used to spend many of his retirement days. Despite the generation gap, we had always been friends, a privilege that I enjoyed for many years during which he was always insisting on the Maltese author's bilingual potential and the need to exploit it. We agreed on most things, but on that particular day I vividly remember us agreeing to disagree on one theme.
Francis Ebejer was true to his faith and seemed genuinely disturbed by my lack of religiosity. He patiently listened to my arguments but was quick to come out with his prudent retorts. Then it was smiles as usual, an offer of a quick drink and we parted. Incredibly, that episode took place 14 years ago.
Happily, Francis Ebejer the artist, the master playwright and novelist in both Maltese and English, lives on. I always get a kick out of shuffling literary magazines from everywhere to find Francis Ebejer works still being sporadically published and commented upon even by critics who may still have been in diapers when the author sadly passed away. In the English-speaking world, especially, Malta's Francis Ebejer and his works are not infrequently referred to in research projects and critical studies of drama and novels from within the Commonwealth. Caribbean authors, islanders like us, seem to find a special affinity with Francis Ebejer.
It is ironic that there is perhaps less focus on the man and the writer here in Malta than elsewhere in the English-speaking world. Students get acquainted with some of his work in Maltese, but his plays very rarely resurface on the local stage. That he lives on in the Maltese cultural psyche, however, is now reaffirmed by a Bronk Productions tribute that is being presented next week.
The tribute will consist of a series of extracts from Francis Ebejer's best plays in Maltese, chosen by Bronk's own Dominic Said, which will include Is-Sejha ta' Sarid, Il-Hadd fuq il-Bejt and Il-Gahan ta' Bingemma. The cast will boast some of Malta's leading actors who took part in the original productions of the plays and later editions, namely John Suda, Inez Farrugia, Joe Quattromani, Maria Vella and Dominic Said. They will be joined by Triccas, Stephanie Grech Mallia, Sara Lee Zammit, Noel Calleja, Joseph Fenech, Antoinette Caruana and Maureen Camilleri Barun to play the younger roles, while Mario Spiteri "Snits" will interpret the famous Gahan from Bingemma.
Francis Ebejer was born on August 28, 1925, at Dingli and he died on June 10, 1993, at St Julians. He studied medicine at the University of Malta between 1942 and 1943 before leaving the course to work as an English-Italian interpreter with the 8th Army of the British Forces in Tripolitania, North Africa (1943-44). After the war he took up teaching and on completion of a course at St Mary's Training College, Middlesex (1948-50) he was appointed a primary school head teacher in Malta, a post he held till 1977.
Francis Ebejer wrote all his novels, except one, in English. His last novel, The Malta Baron And I Lucian was published in 2002, nine years after his death. It is judged a twin of his Requiem For A Malta Fascist (1980). Both novels deal with fascism and World War II which dominated all his life.
Other novels by Francis Ebejer are A Wreath Of Maltese Innocents (1958), Wild Spell Of Summer (1968), In the Eye Of The Sun (1969), Come Again In Spring (1973), Requiem For A Malta Fascist (1980), and Leap Of Malta Dolphins (1982).
The critic Charles Briffa describes Francis Ebejer as the leading Maltese dramatist of the second half of the 20th century. Dr Briffa says that in his groundbreaking plays, Francis Ebejer introduced a deep introspection of Maltese society, using an elegant style that proved him to be a master of the language.
According to Dr Briffa, in the 1950s he wrote mostly for radio, while the 1960s and the 1970s saw the more mature Ebejer writing his major dramatic works. His three great works, Vaganzi tas-Sajf (1962), Boulevard (1964), and Menz (1967) were a great success and gave the public something that was lacking in Maltese society: intellectual drama.
He adds: "Ebejer always defined the Maltese as Mediterranean. On the other hand, his plays deal with universal aspects of humanity. The universal is illustrated in a specific environment serving to show that while life on tiny Malta is steeped in history, the island is alive in a modern world.
"Ebejer is concerned with the future of the Central Mediterranean. A recurring theme is the interaction of past and present as alternative glimpses into the future. His characters reflect a flawed nation. Theirs is a search for identity and cultural continuity that reveals society and religion interlocked.
"Ebejer experimented much with the theatre. In Boulevard, for example, he dabbles with the idea of the absurd, using language to smash the stability of tradition. Another concept he introduced in Malta is the thesis play. In Menz, for instance, he discusses the usefulness of individual freedom within a social system that imposes rigidity; in Vaganzi tas-Sajf, man has to look for internal peace within the bounds of his own experience and maturity; and in L-Imwarrbin (1973, The Cliffhangers) he sets the past in confrontation with the present to reveal the workings of the individual conscience and makes use of the play-within-a-play technique to retain the link with reality."
It is perhaps significant that this tribute to Francis Ebejer is being staged at a venue he would probably have enjoyed to be involved in for its intimacy and packed creativity.
• Lejla Ebejer will be staged at St James Cavalier on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Francis Ebejer was true to his faith and seemed genuinely disturbed by my lack of religiosity. He patiently listened to my arguments but was quick to come out with his prudent retorts. Then it was smiles as usual, an offer of a quick drink and we parted. Incredibly, that episode took place 14 years ago.
Happily, Francis Ebejer the artist, the master playwright and novelist in both Maltese and English, lives on. I always get a kick out of shuffling literary magazines from everywhere to find Francis Ebejer works still being sporadically published and commented upon even by critics who may still have been in diapers when the author sadly passed away. In the English-speaking world, especially, Malta's Francis Ebejer and his works are not infrequently referred to in research projects and critical studies of drama and novels from within the Commonwealth. Caribbean authors, islanders like us, seem to find a special affinity with Francis Ebejer.
It is ironic that there is perhaps less focus on the man and the writer here in Malta than elsewhere in the English-speaking world. Students get acquainted with some of his work in Maltese, but his plays very rarely resurface on the local stage. That he lives on in the Maltese cultural psyche, however, is now reaffirmed by a Bronk Productions tribute that is being presented next week.
The tribute will consist of a series of extracts from Francis Ebejer's best plays in Maltese, chosen by Bronk's own Dominic Said, which will include Is-Sejha ta' Sarid, Il-Hadd fuq il-Bejt and Il-Gahan ta' Bingemma. The cast will boast some of Malta's leading actors who took part in the original productions of the plays and later editions, namely John Suda, Inez Farrugia, Joe Quattromani, Maria Vella and Dominic Said. They will be joined by Triccas, Stephanie Grech Mallia, Sara Lee Zammit, Noel Calleja, Joseph Fenech, Antoinette Caruana and Maureen Camilleri Barun to play the younger roles, while Mario Spiteri "Snits" will interpret the famous Gahan from Bingemma.
Francis Ebejer was born on August 28, 1925, at Dingli and he died on June 10, 1993, at St Julians. He studied medicine at the University of Malta between 1942 and 1943 before leaving the course to work as an English-Italian interpreter with the 8th Army of the British Forces in Tripolitania, North Africa (1943-44). After the war he took up teaching and on completion of a course at St Mary's Training College, Middlesex (1948-50) he was appointed a primary school head teacher in Malta, a post he held till 1977.
Francis Ebejer wrote all his novels, except one, in English. His last novel, The Malta Baron And I Lucian was published in 2002, nine years after his death. It is judged a twin of his Requiem For A Malta Fascist (1980). Both novels deal with fascism and World War II which dominated all his life.
Other novels by Francis Ebejer are A Wreath Of Maltese Innocents (1958), Wild Spell Of Summer (1968), In the Eye Of The Sun (1969), Come Again In Spring (1973), Requiem For A Malta Fascist (1980), and Leap Of Malta Dolphins (1982).
The critic Charles Briffa describes Francis Ebejer as the leading Maltese dramatist of the second half of the 20th century. Dr Briffa says that in his groundbreaking plays, Francis Ebejer introduced a deep introspection of Maltese society, using an elegant style that proved him to be a master of the language.
According to Dr Briffa, in the 1950s he wrote mostly for radio, while the 1960s and the 1970s saw the more mature Ebejer writing his major dramatic works. His three great works, Vaganzi tas-Sajf (1962), Boulevard (1964), and Menz (1967) were a great success and gave the public something that was lacking in Maltese society: intellectual drama.
He adds: "Ebejer always defined the Maltese as Mediterranean. On the other hand, his plays deal with universal aspects of humanity. The universal is illustrated in a specific environment serving to show that while life on tiny Malta is steeped in history, the island is alive in a modern world.
"Ebejer is concerned with the future of the Central Mediterranean. A recurring theme is the interaction of past and present as alternative glimpses into the future. His characters reflect a flawed nation. Theirs is a search for identity and cultural continuity that reveals society and religion interlocked.
"Ebejer experimented much with the theatre. In Boulevard, for example, he dabbles with the idea of the absurd, using language to smash the stability of tradition. Another concept he introduced in Malta is the thesis play. In Menz, for instance, he discusses the usefulness of individual freedom within a social system that imposes rigidity; in Vaganzi tas-Sajf, man has to look for internal peace within the bounds of his own experience and maturity; and in L-Imwarrbin (1973, The Cliffhangers) he sets the past in confrontation with the present to reveal the workings of the individual conscience and makes use of the play-within-a-play technique to retain the link with reality."
It is perhaps significant that this tribute to Francis Ebejer is being staged at a venue he would probably have enjoyed to be involved in for its intimacy and packed creativity.
• Lejla Ebejer will be staged at St James Cavalier on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.