Theatre
Kappillan ta’ Malta
Fort St Elmo

The staging of historical fiction and its adaptation into a play script is not an easy task, especially when presenting it to an audience which is more than a little familiar with the setting and half of which, in all probability has either read the original or at least heard of it and informed itself.

Thus, Staġun Teatrali Malti’s latest production – Nicholas Monserrat’s The Kappillan of Malta, adapted by Immanuel Mifsud, in a Maltese version as Kappillan ta’ Malta, in collaboration with the Manoel Theatre as part of the Malta Arts Festival and performed open air at Fort St Elmo Parade Ground, premiered last weekend to full houses and a largely positive reception.

Adrian Mamo’s clever and adaptable set behaved in a rather unruly manner through the evening due to the strong breeze which kept whisking up the curtains which denoted scene changes from palaces to catacombs-turned-air-raid-shelters. This occasionally hindered the actors’ onstage concentration because they had to manoeuvre their way around flapping material often at rather delicate conversational moments – but such is the risk of open-air theatre.

Mifsud’s script managed to capture the essence of Monserrat’s novel and the rich diversity of characters he created, denoting the class distinctions, political divisions and the upper classes’ blindness to the plight of the common people. The script, which was slickly edited in the first act, also dealt with the authorities’ and Church’s mismanagement of the displaced and homeless people’s needs as well as the rigidity with which they stuck to their rules – especially when their hierarchical authority was challenged by the eponymous Kappillan, Dun Salv (Pino Scicluna), who to the common sense reasoning of a modern audience, was far more progressive and liberal than his superiors at the time.

Scicluna soundly and sensitively conveyed Dun Salv’s enthusiasm for life, his philanthropic ministry and his distaste for the intrigue and scheming of the upper echelons of society, to which he belonged by birth and education. Of these, his antagonists, are his superiors, Monsignor Scholti (Anthony Ellul) and Bishop Mawru Caruana (Mario Micallef) who both came across as sneakily obnoxious priests, ultimately using his kindness against him and exiling him to Gozo for ignoring their orders and forgetting to ask for the Church’s permission to celebrate the sacrament of marriage outside consecrated ground.

His sister Giovanna (Karen Magro) and her husband, Lewis De Brincat (Roderick Vassallo) have problems of their own which shame the family’s good standing and divide it due to Lewis’s pro-Italian political leanings and subsequent arrest. Vassallo was appropriately detached, cynical and doggedly stubborn in his political fervour, angering his mother-in-law, the Baroness Santo Nobile (Monica Attard), whose involvement in family affairs and social life was still strong in spite of her years.

Attard portrayed the part splendidly and hers was one of the most enjoyable performances, especially her tête-à-tête with her granddaughter, Maria Celeste (Tina Rizzo) about the young British officer she’s been seeing – Michael Ainslie (Thomas Camilleri); Rizzo’s Maria Celeste was also full of spritely teenage hope and her dynamic with her grandmother, her uncle and brother, Pietru Pawl (Jamie Cardona) was very good. Cardona’s young boy gave an impish childish perspective to the terrible thing that is war echoing his uncle’s love for life.

Of the tenants in the catacombs turned air-raid shelter and home to the displaced, John Suda’s Duminku and Mary Rose Mallia’s Marie, along with Marta Vella’s Katarin, stole the show with their banter, raucous singing and petty arguments, which made their characters credible, likeable and fun to watch – making the most of their bad deal in losing their homes while trying to maintain their individuality.

Kappillan ta’ Malta came across as a solid and very entertaining piece of historical fiction

Their dynamic among themselves and with Karistu (Carlos Farrugia) and Ġamri (Emanuel Cassar) worked very well. Simon Curmi’s more serious Neru, the dwarf, gave dignity to a role which gave opportunities of hilarity from jibes by Duminku. I also enjoyed the multiple character doubling portrayed by Ray Agius for minor roles, while Marvic Cordina’s Madalen, who leads Dun Salv to experience a crisis of vocation and self-knowledge, when she excites him, during his exile in Gozo, was studied and poignantly done – focusing on loneliness and desire.

Loss and the desire for a child was also portrayed by Natalie Micallef towards the end, as a woman crippled and driven hysterical with grief for her young daughter’s death during a bombing. Madalen’s daughter, Gianna (Pearl Agius) was also an enjoyable and realistic portrayal of an uncouth country youth, with a lively intelligence and a kind disposition.

Director Peter Busuttil’s decision to have period recordings and film clips intersperse the scenes was a very good move and gave the play more authenticity, while moving it along in terms of the pace, which never faltered, until it neared the end, when the scenes became slightly disjointed and their continuity drew thin, appearing rather like a series of set-piece vignettes in sequence: a pity as it hindered the end of the play’s otherwise excellent flow.

Kappillan ta’ Malta came across as a solid and very entertaining piece of historical fiction and over all did justice to the original text: certainly a one to watch at this year’s Arts Festival.

• Kappillan ta’ Malta also runs today and on Friday at 9pm.