Strange stirrings at Buskett

The International Festival of the Arts kicks off tomorrow to launch the new studio for ActionBase in Buskett. Clive Zammit gives more details about this baptism of fire.

Those who may be in the habit of taking strolls around Buskett Gardens late in the evening may have been intrigued or even startled by strange sounds and voices which have lately become a daily phenomenon from around sunset until late into the night. At times, one is given to wonder whether the Helicon muses have not chosen some secluded spot inside the grove to sing and dance around some darkly bubbling spring.

But then, without warning, sweet singing may be drowned in hellish moans and yells as though the witches have met again to stir some evil brew. And if by any chance you have happened to overhear a couple’s heated argument, don’t be alarmed, for what you hear is nothing but the work of performing members of Gruppi għall-Inkontri tal-Bniedem working at ActionBase perfecting their work on Stultifera Navis, which kick-starts the 11-day International Festival of the Arts launching ActionBase’s new performance research studio.

The festival runs from tomorrow to June 26 and will be the baptism of fire for the new ActionBase studio, set in what is any performer’s dream location in the heart of Buskett’s enchanted valley. The programme includes dance, music, theatre, poetry, digital installations and political cabaret, featuring renowned international performers from UK, Poland, Italy, Malaysia, India, Croatia and Malta.

These performers will also run seminars on voice and dramaturgy while collaborating with their Maltese counterparts to design a draft blueprint for a second-phase, peda-gogical project. Besides the 10 performances there will be two seminars which will aim to push the frontiers of performance.

Each performance will encoun-ter intimate audiences of about 100. The limited size of the audience coupled with the intriguing spaces in and around the studio’s location will surely bring to life the spirit of Konstantin Stanislavski (1863-1938), the theatre director, reformer and guru who is probably the main source of inspiration for John Schranz, of whom ActionBase is the brainchild.

Stanislavski regarded theatre as a space to push boundaries and create new realities and relationships in which actors and audiences transcend their traditional roles and collaborate in a creative process that may transform anyone who is touched by the magic of art.

To make this potion and cast the spell, Prof. Schranz managed to enlist performing companies from Europe and Asia:

• Teatro Potlach (Italy), one of the close circle of companies in direct collaboration with Eugenio Barba’s Odin Teatret, with a performance on Edith Piaf (June 24);

• Mavin Khoo Dance Company – Mavin Khoo has danced in many of the world’s top theatres, accompanied by his Indian singer and musicians; a performance of Indian dance (June 21);

• &TD Teatar, Croatia, with a brilliantly hilarious cabaret-style performance on the Croatians’ grandiose aspirations for joining the EU (June 18 and 19);

• Ian Morgan, who worked for three years with Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richards and now works with one of Poland’s top theatre companies, Teatr Piesn Kozła ( June 26).

From Malta there will be three performances:

• Contemporary classical music by the Equinox Trio – Dawn Williams, piano, Tatiana Chircop, violin and Lino Pirotta, clarinet (June 20);

• Fusion – an extraordinary event involving Joe Friggieri reading some of his contemplative poetry to the sound of Caroline Calleja on the harp and Renzo Spiteri on percussion… all in a digital installation by Vince Briffa (June 23);

• Stultifera Navis – jew Ow Wenn Di Sejnts Kam Sejling In, a new work by Gruppi għall-Inkontri tal-Bniedem, co-created by John Schranz and the performers Sarah-Lee Zammit, MariaElena Zammit, Carly Marie Caruana and Marco Montalto, with the added participation of four actors from the Greek company Fractals, violinist Antoine Frendo and accordionist Albert Garzia (tomorrow, Friday and June 22).

There will also be two seminars for theatre makers – a one-session seminar on the voice by Nathalie Mentha (Teatro Potlach) and a five-day seminar by Ian Morgan on the generation of performances directly by performers. Both will be held in the Buskett studio.

This open-air festival promises to delight and inspire those who seek the transformative potential of the work of creative performance.

• Tickets may be obtained from St James Cavalier by phone on 2122 3200 or online www.sjcav.org. More information on the performances may be obtained online at www.actionbase-studio.org

• Dr Zammit is a lecturer in philo-sophy at the University of Malta and Junior College, also focusing on culture and the arts.