L-Għana tas-Sirena, being staged this weekend, is not just a musical about Senglea but also a musical from Senglea. Its artistic director, Alex Vella Gregory, tells Stephanie Fsadni that the show aims to capture the spirit of the community and features a mainly Senglean cast.

Love, fear and hope, as seen through the eyes of one particular Maltese community that was ravaged by war, is the subject of an original musical in Maltese being staged this weekend.

L-Għana tas-sirena (The Siren’s Call) forms part of a year-long project run by the Salesian NGO Home Away From Home, which is also the producer of the show. It is supported by the Arts Council Malta’s Creative Communities fund and the Valletta 2018 Foundation and entrance is free.

Alex Vella GregoryAlex Vella Gregory

The first part of the project consisted of workshops in which Sengleans were invited to tell their story.

“My idea was to engage the community. Rather than producing a musical which is either already written, or else based on historical research, we wanted to explore the many hidden narratives of Senglea’s community. Being an outsider, I could also look at Senglea a bit more objectively,” explains Alex Vella Gregory, who is the artistic director of the project and who wrote the musical’s score.

“We asked them about their hopes and dreams and how they see themselves. In the end I was struck by the common themes that ran across the community: a sense of pride and nostalgia.”

Among the sessions, participants were also asked what the siren meant to them. The musical, which has little spoken dialogue, in fact revolves around the siren, which can mean different things to diverse generations.

I was struck by the common themes that ran across the community: a sense of pride and nostalgia

“The idea of a siren is in itself an enticing one: a fatal beauty that you can never free yourself from once you get to know it. For the younger ones, the siren is a mythical creature, sometimes a villain and sometimes a victim. For the elderly it was a nightmare, and I actually avoided mentioning it too much because I could tell that it was a traumatic memory.”

Once the workshops were completed, Vella Gregory drafted the story and Roderick Mallia built the script around it.

“There was poetic licence, of course, and the story contains elements merged from different sources. It was only when the script was finished that I composed the music. This enabled me to look at the work as a whole and identify recurring themes which could be reflected musically.”

The plot focuses on Duminku (Ivan Vella) who is almost 100 years old but who still has a very sharp memory. He reminisces about the war years when he was still a young man (Gabriel Farrugia). He vividly recalls the air raids, the day the HMS Illustrious was bombed, as well as Freedom Day. But, above all, he remembers Maria (Joy Attard), who stole his heart only to disappear during the war. Marvic Baldacchino plays the part of the siren.

Salesian Fr Aurelio Mulestagno is directing the choir, while Pierre Bonello is the theatre director. The cast members are mainly from Senglea. All of them have some musical or theatrical experience but, for most of them, it is their first foray in a fully-staged musical.

“I must say that they have risen to the challenge. I honestly feared that bringing together so many people from so many different artistic backgrounds would not work well, but I am glad to have been proved wrong,” says Vella Gregory.

Despite being no new name in the local music scene, the young composer describes his participation in this project as very rewarding: “Being able to engage with a community for such a long stretch of time is always an enriching experience. The script and the music become almost superfluous when set against the whole process.

“There were times when I felt I was dealing with something way bigger than me. Trying to capture the spirit of a community is a huge responsibility. Ultimately, seeing the community not only welcoming your work but getting enthusiastic about it is the most rewarding feeling for an artist.”

Rehearsals this week proceeded well. Vella Gregory, who will accompany the singers on the piano, says that everyone has been very cooperative, including the technical crew. Throughout the whole process, he found a lot of support from the Salesian NGO, which gave him artistic freedom to shape the musical and did most of the logistical work with Nathalie Grima of the Leap Centre.

“They have been absolutely wonderful to work with,” he says.

Now, Vella Gregory is looking forward to see all the effort put into this production bearing fruit.

“There is always that exciting moment when everything suddenly falls into place and you know you have a good show.

“This musical is not a money-making venture and therefore it is authentic and unapologetic. It might be a musical from Senglea and about Senglea, but it is addressed to the world as its themes – love, fear and hope – are universal. Human beings survive on stories… and this is yet another story that needs to be told and shared.”

• L-Għana tas-Sirena is being staged tomorrow and on Saturday at the Theatre of the Catholic Action (Sede) in Victory Street, Senglea, at 7.30pm. Entrance is free.

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