It has certainly been a Bettina Paris kind of year on the Maltese theatre boards. She erupted on the scene, seemingly out of nowhere (only not quite, of course) with Unifaun’s staging of the infamous Tender Napalm.
The production, which attracted passionate responses from both audiences and critics, saw Paris taking on the role of Woman, a disturbed and disturbing character that dips more than once into surrealism.
This was quickly followed by another intense part in Masquerade’s Festen, where, again, she interpreted a role that is both disturbed and disturbing in a different manner. And finally, True Love Lies, also by Unifaun, also not for the faint-hearted.
Three tough roles, one very young woman who got theatre-lovers in the palm of her hand with her interpretations. Of course, Paris had been active on the local theatrical scene, gradually building a respected name for herself, for years.
Having started drama lessons aged four, she went through the whole acting school circuit.
“I was lucky enough to study with the likes of Denise Mulholland, who taught me that being a good actress is not simply about the talent. It’s about the commitment, the determination, the good manners, the generosity...”
A question that begs to be asked is how those who are close to Paris, especially her boyfriend and family, deal with the controversial aspects of the actress’s roles.
From simulating sex in True Love Lies and Festen to the smorgasbord of what might be deemed ‘inappropriate’ emotional outbursts in Tender Napalm, some of the scenes that Paris has found herself interpreting at a relatively young age might be hard to stomach.
“I am lucky in that my family are supportive in the right way. I’m a very independent person. My career is my own, my choices are my own and my family understands that. I do ask for advice on occasion, but my parents never attempt to interfere with, or to influence, my decisions,” she says.
She tells me that she has been equally lucky with her boyfriend, who is fast getting as keen about all things theatrical as Paris herself.
“I believe in being open, so when I know that a particular script includes intimate scenes I always prepare both him and my parents. They all understand, mostly because they are all aware that kissing someone on stage has nothing to do with kissing someone in real life. It’s totally different,” she explains.
“Luckily, as soon as I’m on stage I forget that there is an outside world. It’s like being in a bubble. I am not even aware of the faces in the audience. This allows me to get on with it. Also, after the play my parents were still supportive, and as happy with my interpretation of the role, as ever.”
Now, Paris is back on the boards with a very different role – well, several, actually – as part of Frolic’s Post Dramatic Stress Disorder, with unabashed comedy, rather than dark psychological drama, being the order of the day.
It’s not simply about talent. It’s about the commitment
“It will be nice to do something light, of course. PDSD, as we call it, is the brainchild of Frolic, which is a team of six. Everyone who is taking part in PDSD is writing, directing and even acting in the sketches. We had put up the first edition of PDSD last year in collaboration with MADC. This year, we are co-producing it with St James Cavalier and we are including a diversity of sketches, including some dance and song numbers, Maltese humour, British humour... there’s quite an international mix,” she says.
Frolic has also been making a name for itself, fresh from taking part – and winning all award categories in the Malta International Theatre Festival, with the original script Coco’s Fabulous Speed-Dating Soiree, written and directed by one of the founding members, Vikesh Godhwani.
The play was nominated for awards in eight eligible categories and, after a very successful run, took all eight awards home, beating both local and foreign participating companies.
Not shabby for a company that was only founded this year.
“That was rather fun, yes. We are very happy that the company is growing so fast. We never expected people to ask for a second edition after we first put up PDSD last year, but they did. We formed Frolic with the idea of bringing together friends who all hail from different theatrical backgrounds, and the idea seems to be working,” she says.
Of course, being part of your own theatrical company is a whole different kettle of fish to taking part in someone else’s production. Paris tells me that each member takes care of other aspects of the company – Paris herself does design, with others taking care of marketing, logistics, lights and the like. The production, which is made up of a seven-strong cast (Paris, Marta Vella, Ema Marie Attard, Vikesh Godhwani, Sean Borg, Ryan Cutajar and Luca Zerafa) is about one hour and 15 minutes long.
Post Dramatic Stress Disorder runs on Friday, Saturday, next Sunday and on December 26, 27 and 28 at St James Cavalier, Valletta.
www.sjcav.org