For actress, educator and Occupy Justice activist Pia Zammit, 2018 has been a roller-coaster ride of emotions. Now, as she prepares to reprise her many roles as one of The Comedy Knights in the season’s record-breaking satirical show, she sits down with Iggy Fenech for an unfiltered interview about what’s gone and what’s to come.

It’s been an incredibly busy year for you on all fronts. Looking back, what would you say have been the most defining moments of 2018?

It’s been an interesting year. Workwise, teaching public speaking and debating skills is extremely rewarding and the quest to put this on our national curriculum continues. The need for critical thinking skills is paramount on this island, and it’s my firm belief that we cannot grow as a nation until we learn them.

Photo: Pippa Zammit Cutajar

As for the rest of the year, well, that’s been eventful too. On the theatre front, 2018 saw the resurrection of Stitching – the Play That Was Banned and Disallowed 10 Long Years Ago [to give it its full title]. Diving back into the script was interesting and surprising: 10 years on, Mikhail [Basmadijan] and I are obviously older and consequently different people, so our interpretation of the script took on a more urgent tone.

Then, there’s my role as an ‘accidental activist’ to address too. And 2018 has been exceedingly busy because of it. We are fighting for justice, truth, transparency and good governance; we are fighting in the face of much opposition, oppression and censorship; we are fighting with no resources and no time. And, yet, we fight on. This isn’t a job, or a short-term contract; this is a lifestyle and we will die with our boots on.

You often use your talent and craft to speak out about things you believe in, be it spring hunting, or impunity. Why do you do this?

People are so afraid to speak up on this island. I don’t blame them. We’re a small overpopulated island, plagued by humidity, traffic and a severe lack of space so, as a people, we are hot-headed and quick to anger. We victim-blame, we make gods of our politicians, and we, for the most part, don’t know the difference between an opinion and a fact. People who speak up are shouted down, stigmatised and victimised. We have seen too many threats, warnings, vindictive transfers, pulling of contracts, and much more.

The need for critical thinking skills is paramount on this island, and it’s my firm belief that we cannot grow as a nation until we learn them

As a person who is recognised by a sector of the population because of theatre and as an educator, I have a duty to lead by example. I find it very hard to accept things that aren’t right, and I believe that it is my duty to call these things out. The more of us who raise our heads above the parapet and say ‘don’t do that, it’s wrong’, the more we can ensure our freedom and protect our rights.

Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi

Women are often shamed for daring to speak up. How does that make you feel? Ah. The bloody patriarchy, innit?

Seriously, though, our default setting is to victim-blame, and we seem to do this with extra vigour when it’s a woman. We are still a hugely patriarchal society and we still believe that a woman’s place is in the home. When you look at the comments levelled at Occupy Justice, for example, the majority are telling us to go back to the kitchen, to go and raise babies, to go and see to our rich lawyer husbands. Rich? Lawyer? Husband? What? And they’re calling us ‘whores’ and ‘witches’.

Men don’t get the same level of abuse. So, in turn, this makes it even more difficult for more women to speak up. This leads to the decades of silence, which culminated in the John Suda case and one brave woman who finally had the courage to speak out. This infuriates me.

The damage done is untold – not only do women have to suffer the abuse, but then they have the added burden of bearing a secret and the fear of this being ‘leaked’, and the blaming that follows. We need to give women courage to speak out and then we need to make sure they are listened to, believed and supported. ‘Never Again’ is not just a hashtag; it should be a promise.

For the past five years, The Comedy Knights have been taking satire to the next level, often covering sociological, cultural and political topics that not everyone would be comfortable tackling. Why is this important?

Satire isn’t just important; it’s essential. If we can’t laugh at ourselves, then it means we don’t have the capacity to analyse and be objective about ourselves. If we can’t analyse, then we can’t grow and improve as a nation. What I love about The Comedy Knights is that we make fun of everyone – we’re non-partisan, equal-opportunity make-funners-of… We make fun of ourselves the most though! And we do this in a non-cruel way. Sometimes, we hit close to the bone, but we are lucky enough to have amazing writers who know how to keep the scripts kind and respectful, but biting.

Our little island is a bit battered at the moment: we’re bombarded from all sides with political incidents and commentary. No wonder we’re foaming at the mouth! While watching comedy, it’s impossible to hate your fellow men – so, with this reasoning, watching The Comedy Knights should be a civic duty. Like voting.

Photo: Mata Hati

What are your favourite memories from The Comedy Knights?

The Sliema Girls [SG] are special to me. Not least because Jo [Caruana] and I had unwittingly developed these characters years ago and we’d talk to each other in SG voices frequently [and, often, to the alarm of our friends]. The first year we did The Comedy Knights, Jo and I were handed a script, we exchanged a knowing glance, and launched into our full SG personas. We know each other so well that we know how to get each other out of tight spots [and we’ve had a few], but we also get the giggle loop, and, some nights, we have had to stop acting to dry our eyes and regain our composure.

We are still a hugely patriarchal society and we still believe that a woman’s place is in the home. When you look at the comments levelled at occupy justice, for example, the majority are telling us to go back to the kitchen

One memorable performance had Chris [Dingli] dancing on a table, and we had to rip his trousers off to reveal European flag cycling shorts. The night his parents were in the audience – front row! – he forgot to wear them. So off came the trousers and there were his tighty whities. We couldn’t continue with either the song or the scene and we all just fell to the floor.

Another day I’ll never forget had us lounging backstage before the start of a show and, suddenly, the news came in that Simon Busuttil [then leader of the Opposition] was going to vote yes to spring hunting. We had an hour to go till curtain-up when the press conference was held, so we quickly penned a song, Chris practised it, Tom [Camilleri] found a flamingo costume backstage, and we ‘threw’ the sketch onstage. Busuttil was in the audience for that performance. He was gobsmacked!

Photo: Christine Joan Muscat-Azzopardi

Will you be returning in your iconic roles of Cikka and Mixall?

You’ll just have to come and watch to find out, won’t you? But, spoiler alert… Yes. Now ask me if I’m super excited about both Cik and Mixall? Ask me! Yes, I am!

Plans for 2019?

U ajma, the best laid plans of mice and [wo]men always go awry. So best if I don’t make plans, hux? I plan to sleep more; I plan to earn more money and win a couple of lotteries; I plan to be able to plank for five whole minutes without throwing up. I have many plans, kieku. But the reality is that I will work, gym, activist-ate, and complain a lot about not getting enough sleep.

The Comedy Knights: Let’s Talk About Six is on between December 26 and January 13. It is produced by Wesley Ellul, Chris Dingli and Marc Cabourdin.

www.comedyknights.com

This article first appeared in Pink magazine.