Chris Spiteri plays a poor sod who wins a lottery with not-so-happy consequences in Irbaħt il-Lottu.

Theatre
Irbaħt il-Lottu
Manoel Theatre

Considering the highly unlikely possibility of winning the lottery, Staġun Teatru Malti imagines what this situation might be like for a man whose family life is spiralling out of control.

Irbaħt il-Lottu, written and directed by Mario Philip Azzopardi, takes the archetype of the poor sod and really bashes him to bits. Chris Spiteri is Michael, the poor sod par excellence. The play sees him as a man who has lost control over his familial relationships and his role as head of the family, losing his wife and children’s respect, while being stuck in a dead end job, as an accountant, no less.

Spiteri portrayed Michael well and made the most of the weak script, which saw his character as a failure at everything, until he wins the lottery – but even then, he acts cautiously, at least at the beginning. His wife Pat is played by the rather shill Lorianne D’Ugo, whose excessively melodramatic and histrionic take on her character led to some missed opportunities for poignancy in their relationship.

His children, to all intents and purposes, are all in need of a sharp slapping. The eldest, Alex (Mariele Zammit), is a drunken, drug-abusing party girl, who dresses trashily and associates with the worst kind of people. Chris (Jamie Cardona) is his out-of-control, selfish middle child who deals drugs rather than taking them and is in debt with a criminal underlord. His youngest, Becca (Maya Ebejer), is a spoilt brat who finds everybody boring and speaks certain truths but has less sensitivity than a toothpick.

The resulting piece makes an underlying attempt at humour without being particularly funny

I found Zammit’s and Ebejer’s interpretations satisfactory though rather basic, while Cardona, who has been playing the role of someone’s son since he was a child, has become rather typecast and has developed a rather bewildered, slightly worried manner which is rehashed regularly. The problem is that this play is banking on the use of stereotypes to the point where they become grotesquely overused.

Angelo (Sean Briffa), the criminal who threatens the family after Chris gets embroiled in a drug deal with him, and who later becomes Alex’s pimp, is such a collection of clichés, from his tattoos to his flashy gold coat (which criminal wants to draw that kind of attention to himself?), that he becomes immediately ridiculous and not as menacing as he pretends to be.

The only person Mike confides in is Simon Curmi’s sleazy lawyer, Grixti, whom he bullies into helping him with legally binding notes and blackmail.

This is the start of Mike’s transformation, where he battles usury and blackmail by Anġlu, while giving his camp and vindictive manager, Willy (Vince Micallef Pulé) his comeuppance at work. I found Curmi and Micallef Pulé’s interpretations larger than life and relatively engaging.

The supporting cast was actually very clear on stage but had a convoluted, far-fetched piece to handle.

In fact, the problem with the production lies in the fact that it rides on the coattails of the assumptive. It uses clichés and stereotypes to make socio-political commentary on the local scene, and while its implications may be true, they emerge as empty platitudes.

The resulting piece makes an underlying attempt at humour without being particularly funny. Indeed, the only sensation it left the audience with was a collective feeling of “what just happened?”, as its plotline became more convoluted.

• Irbaħt il-Lottu is being staged again on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Manoel Theatre at 8pm. Tickets are available from www.teatrumanoel.com.mt or from the Manoel Theatre booking office.