Students at various institutes of the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (Mcast) are involved in a production of Giuseppe Verdi’s Aida that will be performed in the village of Spanga in Friesland, the Netherlands, in July-August 2018, and in Valletta in September 2018 as part of the Valletta 2018 productions. While Verdi’s original score will be used the production will be set in the contemporary context of war in Syria, Egypt and Ethiopia.

The opera will be staged by the theatre production house Opera Spanga, which has engaged an international cast of seven soloists and a Dutch orchestra.

The project also involves the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra and Pjazza Teatru Rjal, Maltese design professionals Charles & Ron, professional staff from Mcast and Friesland College’s design arm D’Drive, and a Maltese choir of 25 to 30 singers including choral singers from Voices.

The students collaborating in the project come from Mcast’s Institute for the Creative Arts, Institute of Engineering and Transport – Building and Construction, and the Institute of Community Services.

Performing arts students are working with the acting and stage hands; fashion design and jewellery students are working on the design and production of costumes and accessories; cultural heritage students are working on the production of heritage accessories; fine arts students are working on the storyboarding and asset creation; photography students are working on the photography of scenes for animation; graphic design students are working on animation for projection as part of the set; spatial design students are working on set and prop design; carpentry and joinery students are working on the production of set and props; media moving image students are working on the green screen filming, editing, and production sequences and compositing; and the hair and beauty students are working on the hair, wigs and make-up design and production.