Young Maltese performers take part in Italian theatre festival

Teatru Zazz, a group of young performers trained in dance, theatre and gymnastics, have just returned from a six-day theatre festival in the mediaeval city of Ostuni, in the province of Brindisi, Puglia, Italy.

Marinando Festival, a campaign promoted by the Italian Ministry of Agricultural Food and Forestry Policies since 1995, is an opportunity for Italian secondary school students and teachers to discuss the sea, fisheries, environment and sustainability in an innovative way. It also gives youths a chance to meet peers from other Mediterranean countries.

The festival has two competition sections where the participants come up with original theatre productions or video spots concerning the sea. This year the Italian students were joined for the non-competing international part of the festival by groups from Algeria, Greece, the Palestinian National Authority and Malta.

Participants had a jam-packed programme where mornings were taken up by activities and outings that promote knowledge about the beauty of the Mediterranean and its sustainability. The evenings were taken up by theatre shows and socialising.

The Maltese youths were split in three groups to take part in the various workshops. The whole group then performed a dance theatre piece entitled Xandru u x-Xixa. It incorporated Teatru Zazz’s strong points – theatre, dance and gymnastics as well as video projections produced by David Micallef, with cinematography and editing by Matthew Muscat Drago.

The storyline was inspired by a news item reporting a tragedy at sea but was given an artistic interpretation to turn this into a modern legend with a positive twist at the end. The dramaturgy is by Peter Serracino Inglott and Isabelle Gatt.

Choreography is by Caroline Carta and Sarah Vella. Music is by Ruben Zahra.

Director Isabelle Gatt describes the production as a multimedia project full of dynamic movements and projections as well as Maltese sounds and music which evoke the liveliness of our fishing village market at Marsaxlokk as well as the pain of separation as fishermen go out to the dangers of the sea, weather and other unknown perils.

However, beneath the sea also lies a wonderful world of mystery which is what gives the “narrative” a happy ending.

During the festival, Teatru Zazz was interviewed by Italian national channel RaiUno for the programme Linea Blu.

The group’s participation in this festival was supported by the President’s Creativity Award, the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts and the Ministry of Education.

Teatru Zazz is presently trying to find an event to stage this production locally.