The first time I saw André Agius acting was in the 2015 University of Malta Studentfest, Beauty & the Beast. The main cast of that production was probably the most professional any student festival had seen, particularly as most of them had acted in productions by some of Malta’s biggest theatre groups. Standing out on that stage was not easy, but André managed it.
By age nine, André had already become one of the youngest actors in MADC’s One-Acts Festival and was nominated for a Best Actor Award that year. But it was a small role in The Pillowman – a play directed by Chris Gatt and starring Manuel Cauchi, Alan Paris and Jes Camilleri, among others – that truly pushed André to take theatre more seriously.
“During this production – through working with those actors and seeing their acting processes – I realised that acting and theatre-making were not just a hobby."
Now, André is getting ready for his next big role in theatre: that of transitioning from actor to director in a play that will see theatre heavyweights Stephen Oliver, Simone Spiteri and Alex Weenink in the lead roles.
“Instinct. I blame my instincts,” he jokes when I ask him what possessed him to try something different and go behind-the-scenes. “From a very young age – even at drama school – I always remember being keen on not conforming to the usual approach. I would often read plays and visualise how they would be staged and performed. In 2014, I directed a Teen Company Performance for the drama school I was working for, I Don’t Want to Talk About It by Bradley Hayward. It was then that I realised that this was a field I wanted to experience more of.
André started watching local and international work through a critical lens, asking himself what the production lacked, what he would have done differently. It was in that same year that André read Skylight for the first time, and he immediately decided that, when the opportunity arose for him to direct, the 1995 play by socio-political playwright David Hare would be the one he debuted with.
I see theatre as a medium that retains its entertainment factor, while providing a real platform for criticism and challenge- André Agius
Describing it as "raw, relevant and human", André’s love for the play stems from the fact that although it’s been over two decades since it first premiered at the National Theatre in London, it remains relevant to 2017, particularly thanks to the relationship between the two main characters whose psyche is laid bare as the script unfolds.
As with any other director, André is set to give his work that unique and distinguishable touch that sets it apart from other people’s work, and the first step to ensure this was to put together a team of creatives who not only shares his vision but who also expands it. From Thomas Camilleri as the set-designer and decorator to Ritty Tacsum for photography and videography, André has chosen some of Malta’s biggest and brightest to give Skylight a contemporary take.
“I see theatre as a medium that retains its entertainment factor, while providing a real platform for criticism and challenge. The Maltese theatre scene is passing through a phase of transition. At times, there is a feeling of indifference towards the subject matter being discussed within our theatres and we must oppose that."
With just a few days left before the local premiere of Skylight, this may be the beginning of a promising new career for a theatrical maverick. Will his vision succeed? There’s only one way to find out.
MADC’s adaptation of David Hare’s Skylight takes place at the Valletta Campus Theatre (ex-MITP) between September 29 and October 8. An edited version of this interview was published on The Sunday Circle magazine.