What happens when children discover a hidden civilisation living beneath the streets of Valletta. Trevor Zahra tells Marc Buhagiar all about his new collaboration with Il-Kumplament theatre group.

A scene from Il-Mudlamin.

Trevor Zahra is no stranger to the theatre with successful productions such as Is-Surmast, Il-Ħajja Sigrieta Tan-Nanna Ġenoveffa and Minn Wara ż-Żipp under his belt. This time around he’s back with a new work in collaboration with a collective of young artists.

The piece, titled Il-Mudlamin, is part of this year’s ŻiguŻajg International Children’s Festival and promises to take children on a wondrous magical adventure underneath the streets of Valletta to meet the mysterious Mudlamin.

There have always been rumours of an ancient city buried under present-day Valletta – a hidden city full of winding corridors and passageways full of untold secrets.

It is this mysterious city which will act as the setting for Trevor Zahra’s Il-Mudlamin. The work features the titular mudlamin, literally the dark ones, a subterranean civilisation living under the Maltese capital.

The project is a collaboration between Zahra and Il-Kumplament, a group of young actors who are handling the performance nature of the play.

Zahra explains that with this piece he wants to take children on a magical journey. Rather than adopting the traditional storytelling approach where he narrates a story with children gathered around him, Zahra envisioned a more immersive approach.

Together with Il-Kumplament, Zahra will take groups of children under Auberge de Castille to the magical land of the Mudlamin.

Here, children will accompany Zahra around the labyrinthine cellars under Castille and it is here where they will come face to face with the mudlamin themselves. The setup is simple: Zahra narrates his story while the actors act out their roles as mudlamin.

Zahra’s aim is to make the children believe that these people and their world are real. He wants them to interact with them, to be a part of their story as if they’ve just entered a storybook.

Even though these people are mudlamin, they are no different than us

To fully immerse the children in the mysterious world of the Mudlamin, Zahra prefers not to have participants to be accompanied by their parents, as parents might unintentionally detract from the fantasy element of the play.

“I generally enjoy including parents in ordinary storytelling, but this time it is different. We want them to really live this magical experience. We’re going to scare the children a bit too, as children like to be scared.”

He adds with a laugh that it’s going to be a small, controlled fright, not a big one. “We want to surprise them, so we don’t want parents telling their children that it’s not real. This kills the nature of fantasy. We want to make children believe that they’ve really entered the city of the Mudlamin.”

Asked about the origins of the Mudlamin, Zahra explains that these people have always lived under Valletta. We were simply all unaware of their existence. Their civilisation is discovered by accident after restoration works on Valletta give way to ancient tunnels and passageways that lead to their mysterious city which rests under the surface. Zahra also explains with much animation that these people are a rather crafty bunch, as they recycle our waste and use it to suit their needs.

Zahra, however, has something to point out about the Mudlamin. “There’s a hidden message when you read between the lines. Even though these people are Mudlamin, they are no different to us.”

These people have spent their whole lives underground and they act differently to us. In our eyes, they aren’t civilised and they appear to be strange. Nevertheless, all the differences are on the surface and underneath it all these people are the same as us – they fear what we fear, they feel what we feel and they love what we love.

Yet, this idea that despite our differences we are all the same, is a subtle one. Zahra emphasises that he doesn’t want to teach with his writing. “I don’t want to directly teach in my writing, be it a novel or play. If there’s a moral to the story, it’s hidden just below the surface. It’s a lot like food – I want to enjoy it without thinking about all the vitamins I’m consuming.”

Stories, then, should entertain first and foremost, rather than actively teach. “I want people to enjoy themselves. If a person hasn’t picked up on the moral, they might do so later.”

Il-Mudlamin runs every day between November 17 and 23.

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