Following years of drought, all indications seem to be that high-quality theatre productions in Maltese have been given the kiss of life. The most recent play, Jien Inħobb, Inti Tħobb, not only attracted packed houses on all three nights, but also reached the holy grail of Maltese theatre – a re-run scheduled for May.
However, despite this un-deniably positive development, it may be somewhat too early to officially remove Maltese theatre from the list of endangered species.
Certainly, in recent years, the conservation programme that was embarked on by some quarters is yielding fruit. But, apart from the occasional triumph, the global figures for high-quality productions in Maltese – as opposed to teatrin – remain worrying.
If producers are not putting up enough plays in Maltese, there is a reason for it... there just isn’t enough high-quality material
In 2013, a total of five productions in Maltese were put up at our national theatre. The figures are even lower when applied to individual theatre companies. The main companies, like MADC, Masquerade, Mellow Drama and FM, produced no plays in Maltese throughout the past year. Unifaun Productions produced one, and even then it was an adaptation of excerpts from Trevor Żahra’s book, Il-Ħajja Sigrieta tan-Nanna Ġenoveffa.
Whose fault is it anyway?
Despite the low numbers, audience demand is there. This can be seen from the success of plays produced by Staġun Teatru Malti, the brainchild of Mario Philip Azzopardi.
However, Staġun Teatru Malti is the only entity that produces contemporary Maltese theatre with regularity, which makes it almost single-handedly responsible for the end of the drought that hit Maltese theatre pre-2008.
So what is stopping this recaptured enthusiasm for Maltese theatre from spreading across the theatre boards and being adopted by other producers?
Azzopardi blames theatre practioners that feed off the mantra that culture is “anything that is British”. He also blames the lack of a structure that focuses on the development of new scripts in Maltese.
“There were honest attempts at setting up a structure, like the Premju Francis Ebejer. But the way it was set up didn’t offer any support system or guarantees.”
Plays abroad, he explains, go through a long process of work-shopping before being presented to the public. He believes that a script is ready to be performed only after intense editing, extensive consultation and advice from theatre professionals.
Maltese theatre, he says, lacked all this. The focus was on importing foreign works in English, or translating them into Maltese.
“That was not a national theatre, but an importation system.”
It was time to add the missing link. Which brings us to Fundazzjoni Avventura, which commissions plays and workshops them for a year before handing them over to Staġun Teatru Malti. The latter then takes them to the Manoel Theatre, making it responsible for a good portion of the Maltese productions at our national theatre.
“In the last seven years, including 2014, there will have been nine original, new Maltese productions at the Manoel. I produced six of them. I wrote two of these myself; the other four I commissioned and produced under Staġun Teatru Malti. In the next five years, Staġun Teatru Malti will produce 15 new original topical Maltese plays, most of them at the Manoel.”
Reclaiming centre stage
What is stopping other producers and theatre companies from following suit? Many quote a lack of good material as the reason for the widespread preference for English productions. Unifaun’s Adrian Buckle categorically states that he believes “there is no good, classical Maltese theatre”.
“But we do have good playwrights today. Trevor Żahra, Simone Spiteri and Clare Azzopardi come to mind.”
Unifaun produced adaptations of four of Żahra’s works between 2008 and today, and more collaborations with the writer are in the pipeline.
Would he consider expanding Unifaun’s repertoire of Maltese productions? He replies in the affirmative, adding that he is currently in talks with playwrights to commission writing in Maltese “that is closer to the Unifaun mentality”.
Curtains down for Maltese theatre?
In principle, everyone seems in favour of more Maltese theatre. Masquerade’s Anthony Bezzina says that Maltese theatre should be encouraged, and that “if the script is good, we would go for it”.
MADC press officer Alan Meadows says MADC would prefer contemporary scripts – however, he adds that the company plans its seasons two years in advance, and this is why programmes are devoid of Maltese works.
It is clear that if Maltese theatre is to develop in a healthier manner, a stonger effort across the board is needed. Enter the Premju Francis Ebejer. The award, which is organised by the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts, was created with the aim of encouraging fledgling – and not so fledgling – writers to take their scripts (in Maltese) to a wide audience.
There are three categories –theatre scripts, theatre scripts for children and young people and radio scripts. Winners are given a platform for their work to be performed.
The project has notched a number of successes, and some of the past winners are today’s prime exponents of Maltese theatre. Simone Spiteri offers one strong example. She won the 2011 main award with her script Kjaroskur, thus also winning funding to produce the play at St James Cavalier in 2012. Spiteri is also known as the founder of Du Theatre .
The award also made it possible for a new generation of writers to break through the industry barrier. Leanne Ellul, winner of the main category last year, scooped the prize while still under 25 .
However, even the Premju Francis Ebejer comes with a fly in the ointment – a lack of good quality material to work with. In 2012, seven entries were submitted for the category of theatre scripts. None reached the desired standard, and the prize was not awarded. And last year, no entries at all were submitted for the category of scripts for children and young people. The project was recently placed on hiatus pending restructuring.
Does this mean there is no hope for Maltese theatre? Simone Inguanez and Elaine Falzon, who oversee the Premju Francis Ebejer, disagree. Not reaching the desired standard, they say, does not necessarily mean that there is no potential.
“The main problem is that the submitted scripts displayed a lack of understanding of the way theatre works,” Inguanez said. “Many of the authors borrowed heavily from the world of film techniques, rather than theatre.”
Importing foreign works in English... does not make national theatre
The influence of film was also evident from the unrealistic expectations that a number of writers revealed in their entries.
“The minimum expected from those who enter is to be familiar with the workings of theatre.”
Falzon agrees, adding that these shortcomings did not mean the scripts had no potential. “Many were simply sending in a first draft. This is one of the problems that we hope the restructuring will address.”
Another problem is that many of the works are not contemporary and are not relevant to the local setting.
“I’m not saying that every single production needs to be locally relevant, but there is a need for such heavy-weight scripts. Many of the entries are conventional, there isn’t much experimentation,” Falzon adds.
Another problem that needs to be tackled involves the language itself. As evidenced by the award submissions, making the dialogue real is a problem that many writers encounter.
“It has to be real, it can’t stay on the page. Making that transition is not easy,” Inguanez explains.
The consensus is that if producers are not putting up enough plays in Maltese, there is a reason. And that reason is that there just isn’t enough high-quality material.
“Blaming the audience is also counter-productive. We have seen that there is a hunger for good, contemporary Maltese drama. But if we want the numbers to increase, we can’t rely on existing repertoire, or keep adapting books, forever. Fresh material is needed,” Falzon says.
Enter the restructuring project. Inguanez and Falzon are currently working with theatre studies professor Vicki-Ann Cremona and the management of St James Cavalier to launch a wider-reaching Premju Francis Ebejer.
The idea is to offer a course speci-fically tailored to those who would like to write theatre scripts in Maltese. These can then be eventually submitted for the award.
“In this way we hope to nip the problems we’ve mentioned in the bud. By the end of the course, contestants will have a polished, improved script. The course will also help them familiarise themselves with the inner-workings of theatre,” Inguanez says.
Does this mean that only those who follow the course will be able to take part in the awards?
“No. The awards will remain open to both new and established writers; the latter might not really need the course. But we want to be able to help contestants bridge the gap between writing and the technicalities of theatre, so that by the time they submit their entry they will have already reached a certain standard,” Falzon replies.
We may still have a long way to go, but it’s definitely not curtains down yet for Maltese theatre.