Ma Rridx Immur.

George Bernard Shaw famously quipped “youth is wasted on the young”.

Youth showers us with such an abundance of gifts that we invariably fail to appreciate what a wonderful thing it is to be young.

Time seems to move at a completely different tempo when you’re young and old age seems impossibly far away. It is only the sudden prospect of an early death, the great leveller, that makes all distinctions between young and old disappear in an instant.

The Rubberbodies Collective’s production of Leanne Ellul’s award-winning script Ma Rridx Immur chronicles the internal turmoil of Casey, a young woman who suddenly becomes aware of the fleeting nature of her existence as she tries to come to terms with the news that she is terminally ill.

The script employs duality and conflict as major themes to highlight her plight and the writing alternates between intimate dialogue and introspective, poetic monologues spoken mainly by Casey to the audience.

Ellul’s talent is evident and her command of the Maltese language is remarkably strong for such a playwright in her early twenties. Yet, her style is unashamedly traditional.

The programme notes seem to hint that what was staged was a revised version of the original script adapted for the stage after several iterations.

While I can appreciate how the jury found the original script to be an interesting read, I cannot say that the resulting script that was performed breaks new ground in terms of Maltese playwriting.

I have always looked forward to a new Rubberbodies production, but I could sense a lack of fit between their characteristic visual storytelling and the more formal storytelling of the script.

The direction of the actors too seemed to be somewhat strained, with the cast clearly more familiar with traditional forms of acting based on realism.

I cannot say that the resulting script breaks new ground

Ruth Borg’s portrayal of Casey, the main character, was strongest in the more poetic moments. Yet, she struggled to reach the high notes of the more dramatic moments such as when her health started to deteriorate at the end of Act One.

I expected more depth from Ryan Cutajar who played Casey’s boyfriend, Alfio, particularly in his transformation from nonchalance to heartbreak following his discovery of Casey’s illness.

Josette Ciappara’s experience helped her give a strong, well-rounded performance as Alfio’s grandmother ably overcoming the interminably long scenes of singing out of tune to Italian songs from bygone days on the radio and squeezing oranges ad infinitum.

Marta Vella completed the quartet of actors and played Casey’s soulmate Samanta with equal doses of humour and compassion. Hers was a solid performance, despite the fact that the script provided little development to her character.

Staging was simple, yet effective, with a revolve stage that worked perfectly to move the action seamlessly between the various scenes.

Some stagecraft, on the other hand, was not so successful, particularly the yellow inflatable ball suspended over the stage that was gradually inflated during the entire second act. It only acted as a constant distraction, because I could not help but visualise the poor sod manually inflating the object with each loud pumping action.

Scene lighting was very effective throughout, although some-times to the detriment of the action itself.

The transitions between dialogue and monologue were underlined by sudden changes in lighting and the use of amplified vocals during the monologues.

I found this device somewhat unimaginative and the effect eventually wore off. On the other hand, there were some visually striking moments throughout the evening that kept the audience’s interest alive, despite the static nature of most of the scenes.

The descending MRI tube enveloping Casey at the start was a simple, yet highly-effective, visual image that was rich with meaning and yet strongly rooted within the narrative.

One could still detect the bold aesthetics of designer Matthew Pandolfino and the subtle use of sound by Cygna (Mario Sammut). Yet, unusually so for a Rubberbodies production, Grima did not push boundaries as we have come to expect from this talented artist.

I look forward to seeing more work in the near future from Ellul as I am sure this has been a great learning experience that will serve to hone her writing skills further. On the other hand, while I admire the Rubberbodies’ guts to work outside their usual comfort zone I look forward to seeing them playing to their strengths once more.