A history of contemporary theatre
The Malta Drama Centre has just published its second volume of theatre analyses. M’hemmx Bżonn Siparju: Kitbiet dwar it-Teatru Kontemporanju f’Malta brings together 17 theatre practitioners and theatre and literary critics under Mario Azzopardi’s...
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The Malta Drama Centre has just published its second volume of theatre analyses.
The book centres on analyses of the significant advances made in local theatre, as well as the limitations that hinder further development
M’hemmx Bżonn Siparju: Kitbiet dwar it-Teatru Kontemporanju f’Malta brings together 17 theatre practitioners and theatre and literary critics under Mario Azzopardi’s editorship to examine the contours of the manner in which theatre evolved in Malta in the past 25 years.
The book centres on analyses of the significant advances made in local theatre, as well as the limitations that hinder further development. A most illuminating contribution is the one Charles Briffa offers in his detailed evaluation of the connection between theatre and narrative technique by means of the textual analysis of extracts from the work of such authors as Alfred Sant, Oliver Friggieri, Francis Ebejer and others.
Many would hardly link Frans Sammut to theatre writing and it might come as a surprise to discover that Sammut was interested in this genre of writing, especially in the translation of classic texts from authors like Jean Racine, Maxim Gorki and Anton Chekhov into Maltese.
Following Sammut’s death last year, his son came across a short introduction that the author had written for his translation of Chekov’s Uncle Vanja. This introduction is being published for the very first time in M’hemmx Bżonn Siparju.
Albert Marshall’s contribution provokes a reflection on the way student-actors are being bedazzled by the ‘illusory celebrity’ of television drama, with the author also offering a far-reaching blueprint for the ways the Maltese theatre scene can aim at a higher degree of professionalism.
The book also includes a paper by Marco Galea on the pantomime’s political inferences. This is an imported theatre genre that the Maltese have developed into their own.
Other arguments dealt with include a short overview of history of political theatre; the connection between logic and the imaginative sphere; theatre as the best vehicle to express both stances; a paper on the progression from teatrin to television drama and Paul Xuereb’s detailed critical overview on the productions that made it to the local boards at the beginning of this century.
Other contributing authors include Joe (Peppi) Azzopardi, Joe Friggieri, Oliver Friggieri, Giuseppe Schembri Bonaci, Immanuel Mifsud, Trevor Zahra, Chris Gruppetta, Mario Micallef, Marc Spiteri Lucas, Ylenia Carabott and Loranne Vella.
M’hemmx Bżonn Siparju is available for €10 from the Malta Drama Centre, c/o St Ignatius College, Mountbatten Street, Blata l-Bajda (Tel: 2122 0665). Payment can be made by cheque and postage is included.