There’s a new theatre company in town and their debut, a spooky production of Ernest and the Pale Moon, promises to be just the thing for Halloween. Anna Marie Galea finds out more from Jo Caruana.

There are few people more present in the arts scene than Jo Caruana – writer, editor and PR manager, actor (as well as full-time superwoman). There is not much she isn’t great at. She is now looking to add theatre company owner to her résumé as she joins forces with Maria Buckle, Chiara Hyzler, Cathy Lawlor and Denise Mulholland to form the Malta-based theatre collective ‘The Shrinking Violets’.

Jo’s interest in theatre was sparked aged 12, when she joined Fagin’s Theatre School – the prequel to Stagecoach Theatre Arts School, run by Edward Mercieca.

Despite the fact that Jo did not take up roles in a professional capacity, many who have seen her on stage, especially when she played the part of Elle Woods in Legally Blonde, would beg to differ. She remembers the role of Elle with particular fondness:

“It was a part I loved from the moment I watched it on London’s West End – at the time when Thomas Camilleri was taking part. I remember dragging my feet to go watch it thinking to myself: who writes a musical about something so daft? But I ended up watching the matinee and evening performances the next day.

“Preparing for that role was a year of hard work every day, but I loved everything about it, especially the fact that my co-star was a dog and I got to wear pink from head to toe. More recently, the role of Vanda in Venus in Fur opposite Camilleri was also memorable and took a lot of work, not least the line-learning.”

Always up for a challenge, it was almost a year ago that Jo together with Mulholland, Lawlor, Hyzler and Buckle decided to form the company which they ironically named The Shrinking Violets, as testament to the fact that they are anything but. The rest, as they say, is history.

Our wish is to keep on working and collaborating with more people

While some might harbour worries about the possibility of having teething problems while embarking on such an exciting yet demanding venture, Jo is not worried about this happening as the founders have known each other for quite some time.

“We’re all good friends and know each other socially, as well as professionally. We’ve all worked together on a variety of productions over the years. For instance, Denise directed Chiara, Maria and I in Hairspray, a few years back. Cathy and Denise both helped me vocally for Legally Blonde. The others have worked on numerous projects together and we all bring something different to the table. Denise is something of a directing genius – she has incredible vision; Cathy is very creative and organised, as well as very musical. Maria and Chiara are very talented actors and also bring brilliant ideas to the piece. For instance, Chiara is handling the props on Ernest, which is a big job. Maria just happens to be very-almost nine months pregnant, but she’s still at almost every rehearsal, supporting us all on ‘book’ at the moment, helping us with lines and jotting down all our movement so we know where we’re going.” The Ernest to which Jo is referring to is a main character in their debut piece Ernest and the Pale Moon which will be staged at the end of the month. The production promises to be an interesting and beautiful piece which Jo and Denise fell in love with when they visited the Edinburgh Festival Fringe a few years back.

“It’s not your everyday play. It’s very physical and also required the actors to do the foley, which is creation of sound effects. I’ve never been in a piece like it, and I think we were all inspired by the challenges it presents, both from a staging and a characterisation point of view. When Denise and I watched the show, I jumped into her lap in sheer fright at one point. It scared the hoo-ha out of me.”

Despite the very specific Gothic-style horror genre that Ernest and the Pale Moon falls under, The Shrinking Violets’ mission is to cover as much of the theatre genre spectrum as possible. “Next time we could do comedy, who knows? One of the reasons we wanted to work together is to have the chance to do lots of different things that we’re all interested in and to work with lots of brilliant people. While I personally love doing comedy, because I love watching people laugh, drama is definitely more challenging and rewarding.”

If Jo’s enthusiasm and the simple, but passionate, foundations the company has been built on are anything to go by, audiences are in for a fair treat.

“Our wish is to keep on working and collaborating with more people. We have gotten along brilliantly in this production and all really enjoyed it. We look forward to more of them.”

Ernest and the Pale Moon by Oliver Lansley, will be on at Palazzo de La Salle in Valletta between October 27 and 29 and November 3 and 5. Tickets are available online.

www.ticketline.com.mt