The conflict between a couple’s religious faith and a doctor’s medical advice is the central them of Vincent Vella’s intriguing play, Moving Mountains commissioned by the Foundation for the Promotion of Social Inclusion Malta (FOPSIM) and premiered at Spazju Kreattiv under the direction of Josette Ciappara.

The narrative revolves around the journey of Emma (played by Naomi Knight), a young girl with big dreams, yet facing an untimely death from cancer. She is the daughter of Ralph and Rose Mallory (Anthony Ellul and Lydia Portelli), a simple working class couple who had found solace in the church of the fiery Reverend Whitmore (Victor Debono) after the death of their firstborn at an early age.

Naomi Knight

Whitmore is the “hellfire and brimstone” type who spews out Biblical scripture verse at every opportunity. His hold on his congregation is both absolute and manipulative. He believes that faith in God must also be absolute and that sickness must be healed through prayer and prayer alone without the use of medication.

The play pits Whitmore’s beliefs diametrically against those in the medical profession, particularly Dr Nicolas Mertens (Mikhail Basmadjian) and Dr Paola Baldini (Antonella Axisa) who are responsible for the treatment of Emma and believe that through medication, Emma’s life can be saved. Caught in this crossfire are Emma’s parents who are torn between their love for their daughter and their blind faith in Whitmore’s teachings.

The underlying themes of untimely death and the harm caused by religious fundamentalism run right through the entire play. Both are very topical issues, but Vella chooses to avoid rooting the action to any specific location.

While this underscores the universality of the themes, I felt that the lack of a specific setting in this case actually weakened the storytelling. His characterisation, however, shows a strong understanding of the medium with the dialogue being credible and realistic throughout.

I did, however, feel that the most interesting character was that of the reverend and overall this was underwritten when compared with that of the two medical professionals.

On the other hand, Vella introduces two secondary characters that give the play significant depth. The first was that of Amira (Shelby Aquilina), Emma’s Muslim school friend who is herself the victim of her own family’s fundamentalist beliefs regarding marriage and a woman’s place in the world.

The other was Marge (Karen Magro), Ralph Mallory’s sister who acts as chief comforter for both Emma and her father as their lives spiral out of control.

With the heavy and dark nature of the themes, Ciappara chose to direct the piece with a strong emphasis on realism. She also chose to keep up the narrative’s momentum by doing away with an interval.

The choice was overall effective. However, given its length the play would have benefited from more contrast and a lighter treatment in some scenes.

The cast was made up of an interesting mixture of seasoned actors and newbies. Among the more experienced actors Debono gave a strong portrayal as the dogmatic reverend Whitmore, while Ellul took the audience on an emotional rollercoaster with his portrayal of Ralph Mallory.

I was, however, impressed with relative newcomers Knight and Aquilina. Both young ladies played their parts with great skill that belies their young age, and I am sure that will feature very prominently in many productions in the near future.