Theatre
The People Next Door
Blue Box, M Space, Msida

The most unnerving thing about writing this particular review is that I am composing it as my plane makes its climb up into sky: for a play that deals with the paranoia following the 9/11 attacks, the coincidental irony is laughable.

The world changed forever after the most vicious terrorist attack on the West almost 14 years ago. And while the notion and fear of terrorism has been visible and actively present since then, the resurgence of a disconcertingly strong, powerful and ruthless group over the past year has spread fear and mistrust to near-hysterical levels which this same power plans to use against those it has declared as enemies – the rest of the world.

Mellow Drama’s production of Henry Adam’s The People Next Door was a very apt choice to explore the pitfalls of our morbid fascination with terror and our desires to fight it. The play highlighted the way in which the deliberate mistrust which terrorism wants to sow into our psyche can lead to the alienation and victimisation of specific subgroups in society, all due to mistrust and unfounded accusations based on assumptions.

Living in a haze of weed smoke, Nigel (Andre Agius) cashes his benefits cheques and tries to giggle his way through life by putting up with his nosy neighbour Mrs Mac’s (Marylu Coppini) domestic intrusions and grandmotherly nagging and consoling his vulnerable 15-year-old upstairs neighbour Marco (Matthew Ben Attard), while his mother sleeps with various men. Enter corrupt detective Phil (Alan Paris) who violently threatens Nigel with arrest for possession and a possible beating up, if he does not comply with his instructions – helping the police infiltrate a local mosque and proving Phil’s hunch that they recruit and groom young, susceptible people for terroristic acts.

Steve Casaletto had a smooth performance on his hands, thanks to a clever, wittily-written and incisive script and well-chosen cast

All this is based on Phil’s knowledge that Nigel’s estranged half-brother Karim has committed past terrorist crimes and is being sought by the police. What ensues is a dark comedy which looks at police corruption and coercion as much as it deals with the psychological damage that the fear of otherness and outsiders does to ordinary people.

Paris’s Phil comes across as ruthless as any of the supposed terrorists he wants to see tortured and behind bars. Paris’s mastery in portraying a variety of characters is again evident in this performance, which had him play a menacing figure of a man, hell-bent on revenge and completely unconcerned by the fact that the majority of Muslims are in fact decent, law-abiding people, with his one aim being to annihilate them all.

Agius has proved firmly that he is a great new talent on the rise, by giving his repertoire another shade as Nigel, who becomes conflicted when he feels he has to incriminate perfectly decent people, while shouldering the responsibility for both Marco and Mrs Mac.

Interestingly, Nigel transitions from stoner to lucid, conscientious and logical thinker in the face of adversity and Agius manages to expose this development very well. Nigel’s caring side emerges in full force when he comforts the young Marco and takes him under his wing. Attard’s performance as Marco is very promising in terms of his ability to portray a vulnerable but generally positive young boy, who actually shows emotional concern for his friend – Nigel is bullied by Phil and appears to be getting in too deep as a double agent.

Coppini yet again gave an excellent performance as the old but sprightly Mrs Mac – a Scotswoman who has survived World War II and has no intention of letting a few crazy terrorists get in the way of her tea and daytime television.

She completed the unlikely trio of next-door neighbours who form a strong bond in their modus vivendi and end up helping each other out in the most unusual way possible. All this by playing on the stereotypes which people assume they fit into and thereby getting away with a lot more than they let on.

Director Steve Casaletto had a smooth performance on his hands, thanks to a clever, wittily-written and incisive script and well-chosen cast, making it a great evening out. The play is as entertaining as it is instructive, reminding us that our loyalties depend on the personal relationships we nurture and on the kindness of the most unlikely of companions.

• The People Next Door is again being staged at Blue Box, Msida, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 8pm.

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