Drama
Is-Simposju
Evenings on Campus

Love can be a many-splendoured thing according to that well-known, much covered 1955 Academy-award winning song; or it can be, according to Plato in his Symposium, a many-gendered thing. The Malta Classics Association, in collaboration with Troupe 18:45 and the participation of Martian Theatre, put up an interesting dramatisation inspired by Plato’s Symposium in the Earth Systems Courtyard at the University of Malta as part of the Evenings on Campus 2011 programme.

Scripted by Karmenu Serracino, who took some of the speeches on love in the original Symposium, and wove them into a story which culminates in Socrates’ arrest for seditious behaviour and the corruption of youth, Is-Simposju is in parts an excellent translation into Maltese and in others a very credible original take on how historical events might have occurred.

Agathon, played with gusto by Tyrone Grima, invites several people to his house in celebration of his victory in the dramatic competition – The Dionysia of 416BC. Here, the flamboyantly camp Agathon makes small talk with the wise and emancipated Phaedra, the randy, incorrigible Aristophanes and attempts to sweet talk the young Critobulus, while they wait for the ever-late Socrates to turn up. Serracino deviated from the tradition by including the character of Phaedra in the Symposium – since women were never allowed to converse philosophically with men under such circumstances at the time.

Giving her the wise and impassioned speech originally attributed to Phaedrus, Shirley Blake’s portrayal of Phaedra was strong and self-possessed, showing that she was more than a match for the men and working with Michael Tabone’s Aristophanes extremely well. Mr Tabone always gives a great comic interpretation and managed to make the lascivious dramatist loveable with his hiccups and lewd remarks. When Kurt Pawley’s Critobulus storms out in a high dudgeon, because his interest in Keith Borg’s Alcibiades is not returned, Socrates arrives to find the other three in deep discussion as to the effects of love. Together they decide to put across their opinions based on philosophical rhetoric and each takes a turn at explaining love – both heterosexual and homosexual.

Each one of these classic reflections is still relevant to contemporary thought and they were a pleasure to listen to especially because they were so well presented. Director Roderick Vassallo wisely chose to direct these speeches as part addresses to the audience and part responses to each other, which fitted the lecture-like mode of this section without being too heavy or pedantic.

However, Kris Spiteri’s Socrates appeared less seasoned than the rest and came across as considerably weaker in his expression. The addition of Martian Theatre’s physical/dance troupe as courtesan-serving girls, the Ċiċriet, who filled in with added movement and expression to the modern classic tracks of Karl Jenkins’ Adiemus songs, was interesting but felt, at times, rather contrived.

Mr Borg’s impassioned Alcibiades gave the audience something to think about when he himself epitomised Pausanias’ speech from Plato’s original version of the Symposium about the link between the desire for wisdom and virtue and affiliating yourself with an older, experienced man. In doing so, he combined the thoughts of the day on sexuality and the thirst for knowledge; when he proclaims his love for Socrates and later defends him against the soldiers and officials who arrest him. Although as a character, Pausanias does not figure in Serracino’s dramatisation, his intentions are made clear by Alcibiades’ behaviour and in turn complement Socrates’ take on the selfish desire for love to achieve immortality of fame via intellectual achievement as a philosopher or lover of wisdom.

Is-Simposju made for a pleasant evening of combined philosophical thought and theatrical techniques.