If every action truly brought on an equal and opposite reaction, I'd say that this is the end of the journey for me. If it were in fact the case however, it would be ok, because now I'd die a happy woman.
Over the span of one single week, I've been spoiled silly, with not one, but two, fantastic theatrical shows, the likes of which, I previously would have had to travel to London for.
But finally it happened right here in Malta, and with just 2km under my belt, I got a sweet overdose, of two great scripts, inimitable acting, and two performances that had me balling my eyes out and splitting my sides with laughter. All I'm hoping for now is that I'm spared from the Maltese dictum ‘wara d-dahq jigi l-biki," because there would have to be a whole lot of crying to make up for the whole lot of laughing!
I watched the first play - "All The Great Books (abridged), at St. James Cavallier, during its opening night. The mastermind behind the script is The Reduced Shakespeare Company - a group of three very clever actors and writers who take, long, serious subjects, such as this list of the worlds' greatest books, and reduce them to short hilarious comedies. From Tolstoy to Jane Austen, from Great Expectations to The Iliad, from Ulysses to Moby Dick; all these classics are ‘covered,' so to speak, in just under 90 minutes.
The three-man Maltese cast - John Montanaro, Colin Fitz and Marc Cabourdin - were directed by Wesley Ellul. They gave an impeccable performance, which had them panting, puffing, sweating, jumping, running and belly-sliding throughout the whole show. Not only did they lose a few pounds after every performance, but they also had the audience crying with laughter and begging for more.
The cherry on the delicious cake was yet another Mellow Drama performance only a week later. This time it was an adaptation of Hitchock's - "The 39 Steps". I watched this at the Sir Temi Zammit Hall at the University, amidst recollections of long boring history lectures which every Bachelor of Arts student remembers bitterly. The obscene graffiti on the ancient and faded orange seats are clear testament to what the bored and frustrated mind will get up to... but I digress.
I didn't know much about this play except that it is a comedy spoof on the original novel and the 1935 Hitchcock film. It's an epic comic tragedy which continuously and hilariously draws attention to theatre's unsuitability for the complex narrative. In just 100 minutes, the four brilliant actors, Alan Montanaro, Alan Paris, Julia Calvert and Steve Casaletto, play a total of 139 roles. Even though I had seen them all in action before, I could not have imagined just how well they would pull this one off.
Granted, half way through, the storyline seems to get slightly undermined, but it was bliss to watch the polished chaos unravel in front of my eyes. Though combining humour with thrill is usually a difficult balancing act even for more sophisticated media like film, in Mellow Drama's ‘39 Steps', a good dose of thrill comes through as well.
Alan Montanaro plays Richard Hannay - a thirty something, handsome bachelor who finds himself entangled in the murder of a blonde femme fatal with a ludicrous accent. In an attempt to clear his name, he has no choice but take a train ride to Scotland, during which he's chased by dimwitted policemen! As expected, Montanaro gives a very lively and energetic performance, and is on stage for the entire play.
The highly versatile Julia Calvert plays various damsels in distress. She takes on the three female roles of Annabelle, Margaret and Pamela, and changes accents and costumes so fast that sometimes it's hard to realise that it is the same feisty Calvert underneath them all...but of course it is!
In a scene of hilarious erotica, Hanney and Pamela are handcuffed together, and Pamela decides to remove her supposedly wet stockings with her free hand. Of course in an uproarious turn of events, Hanney's help suddenly becomes indispensible. I'm not sure if this scene was meant to be sexy, but with Alan Montanaro in a supposedly aroused moment, it turns out to be by far more funny than saucy.
Steve Casaletto and Alan Paris play all the other roles, and there are scenes in which they swap hats and slip on wigs, put on coats remove aprons, change accents, and alter their voices beyond recognition in order to play an unfriendly Scottish farmer, a geriatric election candidate, a police constable, a detective, an elderly host couple, and a lieutenant. I did say it was fast paced didn't I?
Even the props have a life of their own - the Forth Bridge is built out of three wooden ladders, and three wooden trunks transform themselves into railway carriages. A shadow puppetry show depicts a crashing biplane, and a hym-book saves the day - according to the Sheriff some of the hymns are so ‘terribly hard to get through' that they manage to stop a bullet from piercing our hero's heart.
I have to say that there are two things that would have made this performance even more fun:
1. Had they to allow snacks and drinks inside the theatre, like they do in every West End show; and
2. Had it to come with an obligatory 1930s dress code.
Take the first step to a great night out, I say. Last performances are on next weekend 4-6th June.