Malcolm Galea’s Id-Dlam Taħt it-Teatru (at the Manoel Theatre) is a play written for young people that older people can enjoy. Its plot owes a great debt to Phantom of the Opera, as it involves a young performer, Sabrina, who meets the theatre’s resident monster/spirit, called Kospiku. He takes to her greatly, and teaches her the secrets of a convincing stage performance.
The plot is made livelier by the fact that Kospiku resides in the dark tunnels below the stage of our own national theatre, and is the sole survivor of a whole tribe of Kospiki. These were Malta’s ancient inhabitants, who were exterminated by a chivalric order, The Order of the Silver Sword, in the 18th century.
Galea’s play is not only a parody of Phantom of the Opera, but also a good-natured skit on the so-called chivalric orders in Malta whose self-important doings sometimes summon our mild amusement.
What makes the play most amusing and probably rendered it worthy of a Francis Ebejer Prize for a play written for young people, is Galea’s vision of Kospiku.
Kospiku is a tall creature clad in 18th-century court costume, but he also has a substantial tail and a grotesque face and happens to be a great drama fan. He is apt to fall in love with a part in a production, possess himself of a performer’s body and enjoy playing the part himself.
The play shows him doing this by appearing as Alfred, the fake custodian of the Manoel’s below stage region; as Lexy, Sabrina’s envious and mischievous fellow-actress; and finally as a character whose identity I shall not disclose, since the play’s climax depends on this last impersonation.
The play includes many scene changes and, as there is no revolve, quite a few changes are some-what clumsy. Ray Farrugia’s underground set is a very good one, and Chris Gatt’s lighting is atmospheric.
Luke Brincat plays Kospiku, but not the people he possesses. Galea, however, has one technical trick up his sleeve when, in a scene where Lexy is possessed by Kospiku, Kospiku’s voice appears to come out of her mouth, aided by Digital Magic’s skill.
On the night I saw the production, the speed and liveliness aimed at by Galea was in a few scenes weakened by long pauses due, I thought, to uncertainty about cues or lines.
But the action scenes were all spot on, and the big duel scene in particular was well-staged, with excellent timing. The opening scene was also very effective, leaving the audience for some minutes unaware that the scene had portrayed two actresses rehearsing a stage production.
Luke Brincat’s Kospiku always has a presence, but the mask he is wearing sometimes makes his diction less than clear. The part requires little subtle characterisation, but I thought Kospiku’s physical attraction to Sabrina remained far too vague even considering that his eleborate costume and mask made this more difficult.
Naomi Said made the development from a diffident performer to the confident and plucky person at the end, and her relationship with Kospikwu, believable. Playing opposite her as Eric, Andrew Borg Carbott is a timid young man whose ignorance about courting a girl is always amusing.
As William, stage director and captain in the Order of the Silver Sword, Philip Leone Ganado surprised me in his opening scene with an unwonted stiffness and theatrical diction.
Fortunately, as the plot developed this semi-comic villain – arrogant with his actors and even with his assistant, Gabriel (Joseph Zammit) – acquires a third dimension.
Kris Spiteri is a deceptively frail and old-looking Alfred, Kospiku’s first fake persona. Karen Decelis’s Lexy, the envious actress who gives Sabrina the fright of her life, produces the surprise of the evening in the scene where Kospikwu’s voice comes (or seems to come) out of her mouth.