With just weeks to go until the ŻiguŻajg festival for children and young people, Jo Caruana meets the team behind one of the most anticipated performances – the premiere of #babydaddy.
A lot can be achieved in a year. It was this time last year that Studio 18 presented its first original piece of work – The Brat and That – at the ŻiguŻajg festival.
Twelve months on and the team behind this organisation, which was set up to empower young people through creative programmes and projects, is debuting another of its works – #babydaddy.
Aimed at an older audience (The Brat and That was suitable for younger children, while this piece is targeted at those 13 and over), the team wanted to go for something completely different. So they found themselves inspired by the topics discussed in their workshops and rehearsals... topics relevant to teenagers in Malta.
“We actually began devising this piece even before The Brat and That had opened – so it’s been a long process,” says Studio 18 creative director Jean-Marc Cafà.
“We knew we wanted something that reflects our society and we were aware that a huge amount of research would be required if we were to get it right.”
The process began with three months of brainstorming, heated discussions and workshops with Studio 18’s young actors and creatives. It was at this point that award-winning scriptwriter Simone Spiteri joined the process to help formulate the script.
“By July we had finalised the story and put together a rehearsed reading for some invited guests, namely teenagers, actors and directors, school counsellors and staff from Appoġġ,” continues Cafà.
“This led towards the creation of the final script and the full-developed tale of #babydaddy.”
The story is told through the eyes of Matt, a 17-year-old who is used to being the boy who has everything. The play starts on the day he realises that his recent girlfriend got pregnant. The rest of the narrative is a countdown from then on over the next nine months towards impending fatherhood and his A Levels.
“Matt’s life collapses around him as he realises that he needs to learn how to face the consequences of his past and present decisions and also to come to terms with the fact that the world, messy at it is, is still turning whether he can catch up with it or not,” says Spiteri, who joined the project in January.
She admits that #babydaddy was simultaneously the toughest and most exhilarating writing experience she’s had so far in her career.
“The results we have are all down to the group of smart and enthusiastic young adults from Studio18, with whom, for almost 10 months, we brainstormed themes, characters and issues they felt strongly about and wanted to see in a play.”
Spiteri listened carefully to what was on their minds and what struggles they had to deal with day-to-day and it was immediately clear that there was plenty they wanted to get off their chests, discuss, confront and, ultimately, make peace with.
“As a writer, the challenges were many,” she continues. “The 10- to 12-year age gap between myself and the actors was more pronounced than I thought it would be and – age-old teen angst aside – I quickly realised that young adulthood is nothing like it was for me and my peers at their age.”
Spiteri found that today’s teens are under more scrutiny, while the pressures to conform are tougher because striving for acceptance is a more public endeavour thanks to the role social media plays in their lives.
“It was also, at times, a scary but liberating process for me as I wrote the script and passed it on to them for their feedback. Teenagers’ ways of expressing opinions is very blunt and direct.
“Terrifying as it might be, it was also extremely refreshing,” she says. “They either liked something or they didn’t and they never minced their words during workshops. This was fantastic as it kept me on my toes at all times and pushed me to hone and explore more and more until the writing sounded like something they would hear at school, at home, at the weekends with their friends or online.”
Actress Coryse Borg, in the role of Matt’s mother (his father is played by Pierre Stafrace), has also found it very inspiring working with this group of young actors.
“They are fantastically talented,” she says. “Interacting with them has been great fun and a real learning curve.”
Borg’s character experiences the trauma of finding out her son is going to be a father.
“It’s not news that she takes very well at all,” says Borg. A mother herself, she gets the shock of her life. It was very interesting working to bring to life such a delicate topic.
“That said, gone are the days when topics such as teenage pregnancy were taboo or spoken of in hushed tones.
“Teenage pregnancy is now a reality for many young people – whether it happens to them or their friends.
Teenage pregnancy is a reality for many young people, whether it happens to them or to their friends
“Spiteri’s script showcases something that many of the senior school students watching us (and their teachers and parents) have either gone through or heard about. I think that it is a brave move by ŻiguŻajg, but was definitely a great decision to include it.”
Studio 18’s James Azzopardi Meli plays ‘baby daddy’ Matt, whose perfect life comes grinding to a halt as he has to come to terms with the situation. Azzopardi Meli says that he has looked deeply into his character’s feelings to highlight how he would handle the situation.
“I have had to relive my sixth form days from a different perspective,” he says.
“Character-building is a process I look forward to in every production and this one has been a very eye-opening experience.”
Being a part of the development of the play itself was another eye-opener for the young actor.
“I found the first few weeks of the production process to be fantastic fun because it was mostly workshop-based. Later, we moved on to taking more painstaking notice of each word in the script and identifying the intention behind it.
“It’s been incredible to see beautiful and tremendous changes in the way scenes play out, and I have no doubt that they will develop even further before the start of the production.”
Now, the #babydaddy team are just days away from their first performance and Cafà is looking forward to presenting it to festival audiences.
“ŻiguŻajg is very close to my heart and, having been involved in it from its early days, I am proud to say it has gone from strength to strength,” he says.
“I take my hat off to everyone involved and I look forward to being part of it for many years to come.”
ŻiguŻajg will be held between November 17 and 23.
www.ziguzajg.org