Beating censors at their own game

A play called Censor Me plans to poke fun at those who supported the controversial banning of the play Stitching and seek to beat the censors at their own game.

It is the brainchild of 18-year-old Erin Stewart Tanti, a small kid with a big idea: to produce a play that gets its message across but is "too clean" to be banned.

He aims to encourage the audience to debate censorship, even though he knows he will probably be preaching to the converted.

"This is a protest production. The first of its kind in Malta," Mr Tanti said proudly, with a cheeky smirk on his face.

The two-hour long production planned for November was a reaction to the now infamous banning of Stitching, an "in-yer-face" play the Maltese board of stage classifiers found too offensive to be performed.

The decision was taken back in January and the producers are still battling the decision out in court. But Mr Tanti, who has just finished De La Salle Sixth Form, was inspired to get creative and join the debate.

He described his production as an "experience" because it took the audience on an interactive journey.

"The audience will be ushered into MITP theatre by thought-police. They will then have to walk over the stage where they will find themselves in the office of the censorship board and will be harassed by government workers."

That's where the audience will meet Therese Friggieri, the chairman of the board, a character based on the real chairman of the Board of Stage and Film Classification who had taken the final decision to disallow Stitching.

"What's interesting is she is going to have to read the script to give it a classification, so she's going to see herself depicted in a play begging to be censored," Mr Tanti said as he rubbed his fingers with glee.

He argued that, as a public figure, Ms Friggieri must be ready to accept criticism but he was quick to add that everything was done in good taste, the kind of witty comedy typical of the Panto.

The production is a series of local and foreign sketches, some musical numbers and a lot of comedy, all promising to be as inoffensive but as funny as possible.

Mr Tanti has a big problem with censorship, partly because he feels people should choose what to watch and partly because censorship never works.

"The ban on Stitching made it the most talked about play in a long time; everyone wants to watch it. So what did they gain by banning it? If you keep something from people, the more they will want it."

He believes the stage should be, in general, governed by the laws of a country, so there should be no acts of paedophilia, rape, murder or molestation. However, other things that may not be allowed in public, such as nudity, swearing, simulated sex and anything else that may be deemed offensive in public, must be allowed when portrayed in the context of drama, as long as proper classification is given.

"When you go to the theatre you are choosing to pay and watch something. You have a classification to know what to expect and you can read the synopsis before. So it cannot be governed by the same laws as doing something in public. Obviously, if I get naked in a restaurant I'm exposing myself to people who did not want to see that," he argues.

In Mr Tanti's opinion, rather than stopping people from saying things, people should enter into a debate and let the best ideas win. "Just like with the Da Vinci Code. Instead of banning it, the authorities made booklets to explain some of the facts. This made much more sense than trying to stop people from watching it."

He stressed his play was not meant to target the authorities but to tackle public perception.

"I don't think people will riot in the streets after watching this play but I hope it will arouse some awareness and defeat some of the apathy us Maltese have when it comes to these issues."

The production will include an art exhibition bringing together the controversial works of a number of new and established artists.

The play is scheduled for November 6-8 at the MITP theatre Valletta

www.censorme.info, cperegin@timesofmalta.com