Artist Mavin Khoo reviews Gecko Theatre’s Missing, which was recently put up as part of the ŻiguŻajg International Arts Festival.
It has been a considerable amount of time since I felt a surge of excitement in the theatre that would take me straight onto my feet in exhilaration. The last time was when I was fortunate to have witnessed an interpretation of Juliet by the legendary ballerina Alessandra Ferri. A high benchmark indeed!
Little did I know that my next moment of adoration would be inspired by UK-based Gecko Theatre’s production entitled Missing at the MITP, Valletta (as part of ŻiguŻajg International Arts Festival for children and young people).
The work offered the audience possible interpretive subtexts to a ‘decaying soul’ that challenges the psyche of the main protagonist Lily, brilliantly performed by Georgina Roberts. In her journey, we are drawn into the ghosts of her past by a beautifully devised play of time.
Her life is presented within the frameworks of organised chaos and normality eventually unfolding in a history that takes us back to ‘her’ beginning. Throughout the work, we are given a dramatic anchor, a kind of narrator (performed by François Testory) who skillfully ties the fragments of episodes into a one-act virtuosic revelation.
Yes, there were sections at the beginning of the work that felt a touch too long, once their intentions had hit their marks. Lily’s many encounters were presented through high energy segments that almost made their point instantly, resulting in a need to move on rather than embellish. However, these were momentary shortcomings and naturally, based on my own personal perspective.
More important is the fact that artistic director Amit Lahav and his team of ‘devising performers’ have created a work that is most certainly on the pulse of contemporary youth culture.
How wonderful that audiences (children and adults) in Malta were able to witness this. We are in a climate where the arts are amid a cultural revolution. In the programming of this performance by Gecko, one must acknowledge a vision and an awareness of what is current. This is indeed encouraging.