A ghoulish good time

A whodunit that has you giggling at ghosts? Stranger things havehappened on stage. Jo Caruana chats to British playwright David Tristram, ahead of next month’s local premier of his show, Ghost Writer.

With nearly 20 plays and a movie under his belt, David Tristram is arguably one of Britian’s leading living playwrights.

I wanted to bring together a collection of characters who were never designed to get along

His scripts have been performed by countless production companies around the world, and one of his most lovable characters has even been immortalised on screen.

“Comedy has always been my genre,” he says of his extensive career.

“Within that, however, I have enjoyed exploring a wide range of styles – everything from the surreal to the bittersweet, the subtle and the not-so-subtle. It remains one of the most popular and demanding genres in modern theatre.”

Tristram’s script, Ghost Writer, is due to be performed next month by DnA. The story is loosely based on one of the world’s most famous plays, Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

“I thought it might be interesting to set it in a modern context, as a comedy whodunit with a twistor two,” the playwright says witha laugh.

In the play, the idea of a ghost writer becomes literally enacted when the returning ghost helps the writer complete a play designed to flush out a murderer from a shortlist of suspects, all of whom were atthe last-night party of their production of Hamlet.

“The characters are a glorious and colourful fusion of ‘theatre-types’ that we’ve all met in our time,” continues Tristram.

“Most comic potential usually arises from conflict rather than harmony, so I wanted to bring together a collection of characters who were never designed to get along, so the barbed comments and vitriolic one-liners could take centre-stage.”

Tristram is well-known for those one-lines, just as he is renowned for his irrational characters and wild wit. Several of his other productions have been seen on the stage in Malta, including The Opposite Sex and Henry and Alice, also produced by DnA, as well as some of his Little Grimley series, which follows an amateur acting troupe in a tiny British village.

“This is still very much a comedy,” he says passionately. “But it was great to have the opportunity to play around with wider concepts than simply the trials and tribulations of an am-dram. We have returning ghosts, parodies and literary allusions, slapstick, a chance to explore the darker side of the human psyche, and even a few visual effects and scary moments. They’re all juxtaposed. Overall, it’s a much bigger canvas offering far more scope for theatricality.”

The cast consists of Alan Montanaro, Edward Mercieca, Denise Mulholland, Marika Fenech, Taryn Butler and Stefan Farrugia. It is directed by Polly March.

“DnA have clearly done a great job in previous productions – I’ve read some of their excellent reviews of course, but you can often sense the quality of a production simply from looking at the photographs – they have a certain ‘feel’ about them which is hard to define,” Tristram says.

Tristram confesses to knowing very little about the Maltese theatre scene, other than through his communications with DnA.

“I’ve been lucky enough though to have had my work translated and produced in many diverse countries over the years, both at an amateur and professional level, and sometimes to a very high standard. I’ve never travelled to see any of it though, which is a shame. One day, perhaps.”

What is most rewarding, he says, is to know that the comedy is universal enough to work in other cultures, and sometimes other languages. Of all the genres, you’d think that comedy would travel least well, but “thankfully that’s not been my experience. In fact some of the biggest professional productions of my plays have been abroad.”

Looking back, Tristram’s first comic creation was a man by the name of Inspector Drake, whose surreal antics and wordplay he thought would never translate beyond his local theatre.

But, over a quarter of a century on, he remains increasingly popular and has amassed a cult following – so much so that he recently decided to take him from the stage to the screen.

Tristram is now working on the second of two independent Inspector Drake films. The first made its way to the London Independent Film Festival, and premiered simultaneously to Drake fans in the UK, Australia and New Zealand.

“It will be interesting to see what happens with the second one next.” he says.

In the meantime, you can enjoy Tristram’s writing at the local premier of Ghost Writer at St James Cavalier, Valletta, on May 11, 12, 13, 18, 19, 20, 25 and 27 (no performance on May 26).

For bookings call 2122 3216/2122 3200; e-mail boxoffice@sjcav.org or visit www.sjcav.org.