William Timber Woods (Carlos Farrugia) manages a kiss from his love Marija (Sarah Camilleri). Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

Theatre
Faith, Hope u Charity
Fort St Elmo

It is becoming somewhat of a tradition for Staġun Teatru Malti to produce a historical play as part of the Malta Arts Festival. Once again, the setting was World War II and, as is required of such crowd-pleasers, large ensembles are the order of the day.

Immanuel Mifsud’s adaptation of Nicholas Monsarrat’s The Kappillan of Malta last year gave the company and the playwright the impetus to craft a brand-new, original script this year – Faith, Hope u Charity, loosely referring to the three Gladiator planes we all learned about at school.

These three virtues were the ones which this production, strongly reliant on characterisation, used as the basic moral code by which the protagonists of the piece lived – showcasing the fortitude of the Maltese as a nation during one of the most trying times of the 20th century.

The story was told in flashback by the old Marija Fiorini Sacco, played by the much-loved and respected Carmen Azzopardi in great form, giving the role of wise narrator the right balance of exper-ience and nostalgia.

Her 1940s self, played by Sarah Camilleri, portrayed a self-possessed, intelligent young woman, taking after her grandmother the Countess Fiorini Sacco, interpreted by Monica Attard.

In fact, what I found rather contrived was the fact that plot-wise the piece was a bit Downton Abbey meets Call The Midwife with a smattering of Atonement.

Marija opts to serve her country by becoming a nurse. She is caught between doing what is morally right according to her eccentric and forthright grandmamma, as a member of the Maltese nobility, duty-bound to act with loyalty to her country and decency towards her fellow man; and trying hard to understand her own burgeoning emotions as she is torn between two men on opposing sides of the conflict.

It is clear that the play relied on several tried and tested tropes to score points with the audience.

The use of Fort St Elmo as a setting certainly helped immerse the audience’s uncluttered minds deeper into the 1940s, with Adrian Mamo’s clever stage set designed to be as multi-functional as possible: large vintage-style packing containers turning into shop fronts, the interior of a stately home, rural cottage and army offices. Live, original music played by Dominic Galea added to the vintage atmosphere.

Camilleri’s Marija worked well with Attard’s Countess, who reprised the character role of no-nonsense, stubborn matriarch with a playful side, from her much shorter role last year, transformed by Mifsud into a well-developed one this time around. This inter-action between characters is a winning formula which both playwright and director wisely chose to elaborate upon.

A young woman torn between her emotions for two foes

Josette Ciappara’s solid direction made the most of the stodgy script which had Carlos Farrugia playing pilot William Timber Woods as Marija’s Allied love interest, while Davide Tucci portrayed her Axis love interest, Francesco Cavalli, the Italian pilot who had parachuted into her grandmother’s garden. He was saved from the angry mob of Maltese peasants thirsty for fascist blood by two noble women and their loyal maid, Delina – a highly likable role played by Natalie Micalllef.

It came as a relief that Marija was fated not to marry either one – with Farrugia’s proud Woods killed in action and Tucci’s polite and charming Cavalli first arrested and interned and later repatriated.

Sadly, the cheese went from mild Cheddar to mature Wensleydale at the end of the play when the old Marija is surprised by a visit from an elderly gentleman on the day of her great granddaughter’s christening. The man turns out to be none other than Cavalli, who is told that the new baby’s christening gown, a family heirloom, is made out of the silk of his wartime parachute… a twist which would have made MGM executives from the golden era of Hollywood see dollar signs.

What worked were the strong female leads in the piece, who stood their ground and told the male figures of authority what was what, with the British officers coming across as rather foolish paper pushers who unflinchingly and unreasonably followed the rules, including cameo roles by Godwin Xerri as the governor (not specified exactly who it was – Bonham-Carter or Dobbie seem plausible, great niece Helena would not be pleased).

The countess’ grandsons Anton (Justin Sean Grech), Marija’s brother, a ‘medical prince’ and Corrado Gatt D’Alessi (Edmond Vassallo), an arrogant fascist, add to the tension and political conflict which was felt in many bourgeois families on the island at the time – torn between their British colonisers and their cultural affinity with Italy.

The common touch was added in the guise of a family of hard-working peasants – Sunta (Marceline Galea), husband Gawdenz (Simon Curmi), ageing father-in-law Piju (Mario Micallef) and son Nikola (Jamie Cardona) as well as gruff neighbour Stejfen (Clive Piscopo).

One could feel the pathos of their situation strike more deeply perhaps because they portrayed honest, plain-speaking folk who wear their hearts on their sleeves, but they too fit the stereotypes a little too well.

Sunta and Piju’s sorrow at Gawdenz’s death came across in strong speeches, as did Nikola and Piju’s vengeful actions as a consequence. At the end it was those three virtues of faith, hope and charity which helped the survivors pull through, but charity also led to the countess’s death during a heated interrogation about the circumstances of Cavalli’s appearance at her house.

All in all, it was a set-piece historical drama with light-hearted moments which made the Maltese appear ‘good’ in all the stereotypical ways, but was thankfully saved by good acting and solid direction.