Theatre
Gawgaw: Panto in the Dark
Esplora Planetarium Hall

It has been a long time since I’ve been in pitch darkness – years in fact, and I have certainly never found myself in a situation where I’d be seated with a small circle of other people, in such inky blackness for over an hour. Never crossed my mind.

This is precisely what happened to me earlier this week, when I drove all the way to Kalkara (not the best of drives) to visit the National Science Museum, Esplora (which made the drive completely worth it). I love this place: it’s a great venture and is very professionally run, with sensitive restoration and spectacular views. I was there not to experience the museum’s exhibits, although we were taken on a short tour, but to witness the birth of a very different panto.

Yes, it’s December and naturally panto-time, but while the other more established theatre companies are putting the finishing touches to the lavish productions – with the usual burst of brilliant colours and complex sets, Teatru Malta has embarked on a very different project, written and directed by Marta Vella and Vikesh Godhwani.

Their creation, Gawgaw running for an hour and 15 minutes, puts inclusivity and especially those who are visually impaired at the heart of the performance – which takes places, as I mentioned earlier, in pitch darkness. There are no big dance numbers, but there are some great songs – all very well executed by a fantastic cast of just four – yes just four actors, whose abilities at character doubling and vocal manipulation made it seem as though there were a considerably larger number involved.

An interesting experience and oddly, one which I would not mind repeating

With sound engineer Mario Sammut, vocal coach Sean Borg and special effects manager Annalisa Schembri providing the crucial tech support which such a show required, the cast could get on with making the show their own. Queen of funny Chucky Bartolo, who played Dame Miss Huta, promising newcomer Samuel Farrugia, who played her brother Anton, seasoned actors Davinia Hamilton and Joseph Zammit who both played a host of characters, gave life to a performance which was intended to be a multisensory experience.

The script was solid and centred around the story of the Maltese monster, il-Gawgaw, which comes out once a year on Christmas Eve and possesses the body of an unwilling victim born on December 24, who then plays host to the villainous creature, which spends the night frightening people and leaves their victim battered, bruised and with no recollection of the night’s events.

I found the Maltese setting to be very apt and applaud the versatility of Zammit and Hamilton, who played the narrator and mayor Dick Normous, and Father Ben Dover and Melania Normous, the mayor’s wife, respectively, among a host of other minor characters. Infused with scent, the hall where the panto took place, with audience members given a set of headphones each, was cast into darkness when the show started and each cluster of seats had its own show assistant aiding the individual audience members with a series of tactile sensations and one to taste too. I felt that there is much room for development in this respect because the show itself, while very highly produced and entertaining, still retained the feel of a traditional radio play with sensory additions. It was certainly a perfect showcase of vocal dexterity and versatility and enjoyable even from that perspective.

Gawgaw did of course have several great moments and followed a non-traditional plot format, while including traditional features of panto, like a Dame – of which Bartolo gave an excellent if somewhat restrained performance, and a song sheet – which was one of the most popular and irritating songs of the year, in equal measures. All in all, an interesting experience and oddly, one which I would not mind repeating, if only to see what else can be added and tweaked to this new and boundary-breaking format.

Gawgaw: Panto in the Dark is being staged at Esplora Planetarium Hall today and tomorrow at 8pm.