Tackling the thorny issue of migration and cultural integration from a touchingly human perspective, the award-winning Lampedusa soon gets its overseas premiere in Malta. Director Herman Grech and actress Pia Zammit tell RAMONA DEPARES that, above all, this is a play about unlikely friendships.

Written by famed leftist activist Anders Lustgarten and starkly titled Lampedusa, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Unifaun’s upcoming play is strictly for those who have migration issues at heart, particularly given director Herman Grech’s known passion for the topic.

Pia Zammit and Mikhail Basmadjian play the two roles. Photo: Christine Joan Muscat AzzopardiPia Zammit and Mikhail Basmadjian play the two roles. Photo: Christine Joan Muscat Azzopardi

Lampedusa is, of course, for these people too. But at its heart, it is also much more than ‘a play about migrants’. Rather, it is an alternately chilling and heart-warming story about people and the unlikely friendships they form. And, with a cast of a mere two – Pia Zammit and Mikhail Basmadjian – it is bound to deliver a degree of intensity that we do not often get to see on our stages.

I meet up with Herman and Pia Zammit to carry out an interview – or so I think. But before I can start firing away, the two kick off an intense discussion about some changes that are being made to the original script, changes that, from what I gather, are sure to make the two characters resonate more strongly with a local audience. It will be the overseas premiere of the play, which debuted in the UK last year, to critical acclaim.

But before I go on, a bit of background. Lampedusa tells the two tales – parallel tales, but not really overlapping – of a fisherman who lives on the island and a female debt collector in the UK. Not much to connect them, you’d think. And yet… the fisherman, Stefano, now spends his time fishing the dead bodies of migrants out of the water, his livelihood threatened. The woman, Denise, is originally from Syria but with a family long-settled in the UK – or rather, she is in this version that will be staged at St James Cavalier’s theatre.

“Originally, the nationality of the woman was Chinese. But with everything that is happening in Syria right now, I realised that making Denise Syrian would resonate more strongly – especially with a Maltese audience. Today, we are all familiar with the turmoil that is happening in the country, and the plight of people who are being forced to flee it. Moreover, recent political events mean that China has entirely different connotations in Malta that are totally unrelated to migration,” Herman starts off.

The script does not take sides, there are no judgements, but there is a whole lot of humanity

Thus, the audience finds these two protagonists, both connected through the topic of migration. And yet, this is far from your typical, pro-migration narrative. Instead, both Denise and Stefano take a stance that some may find strange, at first; a stance that is more about the individual experience each of them is going through, than about any moral high ground.

“The tone is definitely not a preachy one,” Pia explains. “The script does not take sides, there are no judgements, but there is a whole lot of humanity. It is a play that tells a story, not a play that tells us whether we should open our borders for migrants or turn them away.”

And that, in essence, is probably one of the main reasons Lustgarten’s script hits audiences so hard. Sixty five minutes, give or take, in alternating monologues might sound heavy for some – and yet, reviewers the world over disagree, lauding the play for its “sheer poetic power” (The Telegraph) and for audience engagement (The Reviews Hub).

Photo: Kurt ParisPhoto: Kurt Paris

“These two people’s stories are intriguing, also because they are not what we would expect them to be. Stefano is disgruntled and frustrated by the problems brought about by migration; from his point of view, they are a threat to his livelihood. But then, an incredibly touching friendship with one of these same migrants is born. The humanity takes precedence over the ideology, or the controversy,” Herman tells me.

As for Pia’s character, we have a debt collector who – by the actor’s own admission – is pretty much unlikeable. But again, that ‘and yet’ crops up.

“She does encounter the usual ‘go back to your country’ aggression. But, of course, she is in her own country, she was born in the UK. But the overriding element to Denise’s character is her dry humour. Because, even when she is explaining something in the most matter-of-fact manner, this woman is funny. It took a while for her character to grow on me – she is not immediately likeable and not even easy to emphatise with. Her biggest thing is that she doesn’t like people, and it’s not easy to tap into that without removing anything from her intelligence or her humour,” Pia says.

The parallels with Malta are quite vivid - we hear the characters complaining about the way a small island cannot cope with the influx of migrants and how Europe has abandoned them. We hear the xenophobic statements often uttered because of misinformation, fear and ignorance.

It is easy to see that cast and director are enamoured with the play. So much so, that Herman has decided to go an extra mile – or two. The play will also be accompanied by an exhibition which promises to capture the many facets of migration at St James Cavalier. But that’s not all. A Maltese version of the play will also be performed, in what is likely to be the most challenging aspect of this production.

“I was wary of taking this up, at first, one of the reasons being that I have never directed a play in Maltese. But then award-winning author Immanuel Mifsud came on board to translate the script and I was sold. His participation went a long way towards convincing me that we could pull off what, in essence, is the creation of a second script. Pia and Mikhael need to learn two scripts, which is far from simple – especially bearing in mind that we are talking long monologues,” Herman says with a wry smile.

Pia nods in agreement. “Calling it a challenge is an understatement. Maltese is not my go-to theatre language. But I’m encouraged by the fact that I know Immanuel is doing a beautiful job with the translation,” she says. “The words already get under your skin in the original language and, somehow, in Maltese they become even more powerful.”

Because, of course, the characters play only a partial role in ensuring the play’s success. A good portion of the success is also down to what both Herman and Pia term the “exquisite” language itself.

The interview appeared in the Sunday Circle magazine.The interview appeared in the Sunday Circle magazine.

“The way Lustgarten writes is simply beautiful. He has a particular manner of describing things and events... it gets to you,” Herman explains.
And this particular manner, he assures me, is also being reflected in Immanuel’s Maltese translation.

“The translation is not as straightforward as people would imagine. The whole context, the tone changes with the language. It’s an entirely different play. We will be running six shows in English and four in Maltese, so it will be very intensive for all of us. I’m not sure such a thing has been done in Malta before, at least not with the same cast,” he concludes.

The production will also be accompanied by a series of Q&A sessions with the writer himself.

Lampedusa takes place between February 13 and 28 at St James Cavalier, Valletta.

It is being presented at the theatre St James Cavaler as part of the Spazju Kreattiv programme. Tickets are available from www.kreattivita.org

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