The love rectangle

Talenti kicks off its season with a play called Mixja fid-Dlam, written by producer Mario Micallef, who also stars in this highly-provocative attempt to rationalise the eternal thorny predicament between “a him, a her, and another him”.

Mixja Fid-Dlam dwells on a very delicate human disorder – the state of doubt, suspicion and mistrust.

The plot features Albert who, at almost 60, has lived almost his entire life with his loving mother.

When she falls seriously ill, he finds it difficult to cope due to the excessive workload that his business generates, so he hires a young, attractive woman called Tania to take care of her instead.

Eventually his mother dies and Albert, faced with the gloomy prospect of having to manage his daily chores by himself and without assistance, asks Tania to stay on and take care of him instead.

The story begins on the day Albert meets a long-time friend in a café – an ex-employee who is now an ophthalmologist; Tonio is his name.

The outcome of this meeting somehow leads to a very unusual state of affairs (pun intended) – not a ménage a trois but ménage a quatre.

Mario Micallef, Moira Muscat, Ray Abdilla and Lisa Cutajar make up the cast of Mixja fid-Dlam. Ms Muscat says that people should go and watch this play, basically, because it deals with life.

“The characters are real. The situation is real. Anyone who has ever been involved in a relationship has at one time or another passed through similar emotions.

“It can also be an eye-opener to those who are enjoying a perfect relationship,” she says.

The director, Żep Camilleri, points out that rehearsals have progressed smoothly since day one.

“Since this piece has a very small cast to deal with, it was more comfortable than usual to lay out my thoughts, ideas and manner of expression,” he says.

“All the actors came in with a very clear notion of what needed to be done. As they say, you may not need good actors to make a good production, but you certainly need good casting.

“This piece becomes all the more credible because the choice of the players by the producer was wise and accurate for the roles they play.”

Mr Camilleri adds that he has thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of directing this production.

“Really, there is no one part that takes a particular preference over the rest. The whole project in its entirety is one part.

“But I may make a small exception here.

“Perhaps the prospect of going into the mental and emotional strengths and weaknesses of each individual character and the complex dynamics of their interplay may give me a more gratifying sense of empathy, heaped with fun and enjoyment which, after all, is what the theatrical experience is all about.

“You see, I created for myself a very rewarding methodology of directing, which I call the 4 Es - the physical, social, mental and environments. “Now, if any one of these threatens to outshine the others, a certain amount of audience discomfort may result.

“In our case, here, all four Es have been proportionally employed so as to create what we ultimately all want – a pleasant evening at the theatre.”

In Mr Camiller’s opinion, drama in the vernacular is dangerously close to extinction – one reason to go and watch this particular production.

“Talenti is one of the miserly few theatre companies that battles on to prevent this sorry possibility.

“And I believe it’s doing its damnest. Another reason to come and watch it is the socio-psychological content of this piece.

• Mixja Fid-Dlam is being staged at St James Cavalier on Saturday and Sunday and November 15-27. Tickets may be obtained from the theatre, by on 2122 3216 or online: www.sjcav.org. Audience members need to be 16 years of age and over.