With Staġun Teatru Malti’s new play, Ix-Xitan Kunjomu Malti, in full swing at the national theatre right now, actor John Suda sheds insight on the production.

John Suda is the Devil in Ix-Xitan Kunjomu Malti.

Staġun Teatru Malti is dedicated to new work in Maltese by local writers and it has generated a loyal following since it was launched.

Past productions have included Sulari Fuq Strada Sretta and Xbihat Ta’ Xi Wħud Li Huma Kattoliċi (both by Mario Philip Azzopardi), as well as Simon Bartolo’s Jiena Nħobb, Inti Tħobb and Tyrone Grima’s Ċittadin Vassalli.

Now, Azzopardi is back to present his latest work, a nail-biting script that blends dark humour, fantasy, satire and tongue-in-cheek social commentary that’s inspired by what he refers to as the “Maltese experience”.

Actor John Suda, who has worked extensively with Azzopardi throughout his career, says that the scriptwriter has been thinking of penning this particular play for quite some time.

“It was high on his wish list for years,” says Suda. “And from the very start he told me that I must be ix-Xitan [the devil] of his play.”

The play deals with an exorcism of a Scottish girl who suddenly starts speaking Maltese without ever having been in contact with anything Maltese

But it wasn’t until last summer, when the duo were working together on the stage adaptation of Immanuel Mifsud’s Il-Kappillan Ta’ Malta, that it really started taking shape in Azzopardi’s mind.

“Mario has Maltese society and Malta at heart,” Suda continues, when asked about the writer’s inspiration for this piece. “When I met him in Paris in the early 1990s, during the shooting of an episode in the Highlander series, he confided in me about it and stressed his desire to return to Malta to help breathe new life into the theatre scene.

“We talked about a play that the censors had denied us from doing in the 1970s and his great desire to manage and produce it. That play was Sulari Fuq Strada Stretta and, true to his word, Mario came and produced the play years later at the Manoel Theatre. That was the first project for Staġun Teatru Malti and it was a great success; I am proud to have been part of it.”

Suda’s Devil is well-rounded and in control.

So, when Azzopradi offered Suda a part in Staġun Teatru Malti’s fifth production, Ċittadin Vassalli, he accepted immediately and recalls that that, too, was a success.

This was followed by Il-Kappillan Ta’ Malta, their sixth production and Suda’s third participation with Staġun Teatru Malti. “By then, Ix-Xitan was in the offing and it was the most natural thing for me to take on the character Mario had been planning for me for many years,” he says with a smile.

There’s no denying that the title role is demanding and Suda stresses that “interpreting the Devil is no joke”. He has worked hard to bring out the evil and the malignance of the character, as well as the cleverness and wit that the script demands.

The play itself deals with an exorcism of a Scottish girl who suddenly starts speaking Maltese without ever having been in contact with anything Maltese. It becomes clear that this change is the devil’s doing, as he wants her to be brought to Malta as part of his plan. In the story, the devil also visits the convent when the exorcism is to take place and there he reveals his plan to the exorcist and to the audience.

Suda’s Devil is well-rounded and in control. “He has a well-defined plan which he means to fulfil,” the actor says, adding that the rehearsal process has been very intense. “So I have made sure to make him appear extremely sure of all that is happening, convinced that his plan is infallible. I can afford no hesitation in my interpretation of the part, which provides a great, but welcome, challenge to me as an actor.”

With the show now in full swing, the team is looking forward to this play being another success for the Staġun Teatru Malti series. Alongside Suda, it features actors Roderick Vassallo, Marvic Cordina, Jamie Cardona, Shelby Aquilina, Paul Portelli, Mikhail Basmadjian and Polly March.

“This play has all the ingredients that are required, as well as the catharsis that theatre provides. It is both a comedy and a tragedy and, true to the subject it deals with, it has its scary moments as well. It is complete theatre entertainment. And for those who want a play to make them think, it has that too.”

Ix-Xitan Kunjomu Malti runs today and tomorrow at the Manoel Theatre, Valletta.