It’s one of those questions often heard over dinner or seen floating around on the internet: “If you could talk to yourself at 15, what would you say?”

There are few people among us (if any exist at all) who wouldn’t have cautionary advice for our younger selves. Don’t give up on that exam, don’t let go of that friendship, take that chance while you still have it.

Little by little, life moulds us into different people and being presented with that fact can be more than slightly jarring. How much of our past selves do we forget as we struggle on in the world?

This is one of the key themes in Simon Bartolo’s Tikber u Tinsa, and it had me hooked from the start.

Set on a relatively blank stage, director Roderick Vassallo made use of sparse grey boxes and a scant few props, confidently allowing Tikber u Tinsa to be propelled by strong performances and the driving force of its original script. The story centres around Albert Chetcuti, a seemingly typical teenage boy played with impressive skill by young Jamie Cardona. The sudden arrival of a stranger (Clive Piscopo) sends Albert’s teenage concerns about girls, parties and studying spiralling into something far deeper.

Aside from brief interludes and arguments with Albert’s ailing mother (played by a capable but underused Alison Abela), the play transforms into an extended dialogue between young Albert and his unexpected visitor.

Tackling themes such as family relationships, loss and teenage heartache, the dialogue flipped effortlessly from poignant to funny at the drop of a hat. As challenging as this must have been for both Piscopo and Cardona, they tackled the highs just as skilfully as the lows and kept a slow energy throughout each line.

At only 15 years, Cardona is able to command the stage with remarkable ease and I, genuinely, look forward to seeing more from this promising young actor. Piscopo gives an intelligent performance, laying thoughtful hints at his character’s true identity even from the first moment he appeared on stage.

Despite the actor’s strong work throughout, the final scene, in which Piscopo’s character is faced with the reality of his past, left me feeling somewhat underwhelmed. Unfortunately, I feel that this has more to do with the script than the actor.

As the audience, we are able to follow the clues left behind by a clever writer and carefully directed performances. A meaningful look between actors, a subtle turn of phrase and allusions to the larger storyline are all breadcrumbs leading us further along the trail. However, I feel that it is the job of the audience to put these clues together, rather than the job of the production to spell them out.

After a final, gut-wrenching climax (with very strong performances from the entire cast), the lights rose once more and took all sense of mystery out of the production. The play’s conclusion made an attempt to wrap up the fascinating questions and motifs in an almost Twilight Zone style twist. Unfortunately, it was a twist which modern audiences have seen several times before.

Following a show which I felt played with some very interesting concepts and serious themes, I couldn’t help but be a little disappointed by the indelicate and rushed ending. While I felt that Bartolo’s script and dialogue were strong throughout the rest of the play, the ending gave a melodramatic tone which an otherwise thoughtful production did not deserve.

While the spoon-fed ending left me with a bit of a bad taste in my mouth, I was by and large impressed with this production. After I left the theatre, the bones of this review already starting to form in my mind, I found my mind wondering back time and time again to the questions raised by the show – and that’s kind of the point of good storytelling, isn’t it?

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