With the countdown to popular festival ŻiguŻajg finally begun, Jo Caruana chats to writer and actress Veronica Stivala about her upcoming children’s show, Cookie and the Art of Bullying.

Cookie the puppet with Veronica Stivala. Photo: Elisa von Brockdorff

International children’s festival ŻiguŻajg returns next month with a plethora of creative excitement for children of all ages, and their families.

Now in its fourth edition, the festival is helping to inspire a whole new generation of culture lovers and theatre enthusiasts, and it has grown year on year. It truly is testament to development as a quickly-evolving culture hub.

“The aim of ŻiguŻajg is to expose children and adults to the theatre and to show them that theatre is not about boring people in fur coats sitting down for two hours and perhaps falling asleep,” explains Veronica Stivala, who is part of a team creating one of the shows for this year’s highly-anticipated event. “Theatre is fun – often quirky, dynamic and humorous.”

Set the exciting task of coming up with an innovative and insightful play for children, Stivala, along with her co-writer Alexander Sobolla, took inspiration from the festival’s overriding theme of ‘identity’.

“Our play looks into self-esteem and being comfortable with who you are,” she says.

“It shows that fitting in does not necessarily mean having the same cool gadgets and gismos or fashionable clothes as everyone else.”

Her show, Cookie and the Art of Bullying, tells the story of a little girl who is bullied at school. However, rather than letting the bullies get the better of her, little Cookie decides to take the situation into her own hands and the results are both surprising and entertaining.

“The idea for the show was the result of a brainstorming session I had with Alexander once we had decided to bid to participate in the festival,” says Stivala.

“He knows what it means to be bullied and could offer first-hand ideas as to how the story could work. We thought we would take a different, humorous and poignant approach by having the victim learn to become the bully. We recently unveiled Cookie at Notte Bianca and had a really positive response from both children and parents.”

The aim is to show that theatre is not about boring people in fur coats sitting down for two hours and perhaps falling asleep

The creative process behind the show eventually led the team to make puppets out of household products, scraps of wood and electrical supplies.

Sobolla worked out a lot of the characters and also wrote the initial script, while Stivala developed it and will be playing the role of a school handyman who likes to make puppets out of materials she finds lying around.

“Along with designing the puppets, working with them is my favourite part ,” she says.

“I am indebted to the clever puppet designer Matthew Micallef and the ever-so-creative fashion designer Saz Mifsud, who both really helped to bring the characters to life.”

The team also engaged actress and director Marta Vella, who is one of the core members of the Manoel Theatre’s Pikużi children’s theatre project to help direct the project, while Chris Gatt will be handling the lighting. It is very much a collaborative process – something that the festival is keen to encourage.

“I love the ŻiguŻajg festival,” enthuses Stivala, “and I have been involved in various aspects of previous shows – from consulting on scripts and helping backstage, to interviewing participants. I am a regular visitor of the festival and make it a point to see as many of the shows as I can each year.”

She is now experiencing the festival from a performer’s, creator’s, director’s and lights technician’s point of view.

“Although I have taken part in countless shows, I never realised what a huge amount of work creating, directing and producing a production can be.

“This festival is great in that it brings together performers from all over Europe. Thanks to our workshops I have already met many of the local performers and producers and am greatly looking forward to meeting all the foreign actors and directors. Who knows where this will lead? I would love to take Cookie to perform around the world.”

And, although this is Stivala’s first official stab at creating work for a younger audience, she feels her young-at-heart approach has stood her in good stead.

“I feel I am creating something for my young(er) me,” she grins. “I also have young relatives and enjoy doing crafts, dancing and putting up theatre shows with them.

“That said, despite the fact that my own inner child approves, my aim is to entertain today’s kids. They, unlike the young Veronica, could swipe a tablet and turn on a smartphone before they could walk.”

Although there will be a variety of shows on at the festival, all are aimed at different age groups, and this particular one is targeted at children aged six and over.

“However, there is no maximum age group because, just as I enjoy watching performances for young children, I hope teens and adults alike will also enjoy the show,” Stivala adds.

ŻiguŻajg will be held from November 17 to 23. Tickets are available online.

www.żigużajg.org