The Teatru Manoel Youth Theatre is opening the 2018-2019 season with a production that explores various human traits. Stephanie Fsadni has a word with the new theatre director, Ian Moore.
A series of sketches exploring themes on the human condition are being staged by the young performers of the Teatru Manoel Youth Theatre (TMYT).
The Beast Within brings to the fore the topics of friendship and loss, pain and love and elation and hardship, and touches upon the true nature of fear and the weakness of humanity, among other traits.
This will be TMYT’s first of four productions for the 2018-2019 season, which is inspired by William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies.
“This performance takes TMYT on a journey of discovery as we explore ‘the beast within’, a line from the William Golding classic text which itself poses the questions, why do we, as humans, behave the way we do and what is the driving force behind our actions?,” says Ian Moore, Toi Toi’s new drama consultant and theatre director.
Moore, together with Kenneth Zammit Tabona, the theatre’s artistic director, and Kate Fenech Field, Toi Toi’s education programme executive, have decided to “create a really strong learning curve” and offer members the opportunity to engage with classic and modern texts this season.
Thus the five scenes being presented today and tomorrow are adapted from Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekov, DNA by Dennis Kelly, King Lear by William Shakespeare, Look Back in Anger by John Osborne and Medea by Euripides.
Moore, whose career in theatre spans over 40 years, feels it is “a privilege, an honour and a delight” to work with the TMYT actors.
There is an enormous amount of untapped talent in Malta
“There is an enormous amount of untapped talent in Malta and TMYT is testament to that fact,” he enthuses.
“Our alumni include former students working and studying in London and Stockholm as well as being well-bedded into the local industry. Ask any young person in any of the local productions throughout Valletta 2018 and TMYT is never far away.”
Moore started out as a child actor in the 1970s and has since performed and worked in a number of important venues and on TV shows with British acting legends such as Basil Brush, Don Estelle, Windsor Davies and Christopher Biggins. He has donned several hats and estimates that he has been involved in close to 500 productions.
Theatre director Ian Moore“I am comfortable in every environment and, simply being in the entertainment industry, I am thrilled to be engaging with other practitioners, clients, students, young people and audiences. My favourite is always the project I am working on currently as I feel blessed to be able to be doing something I love.”
His ambition is to assist people reach their full potential, be it in the local community or within a corporate arena.
“I firmly believe that using theatre, drama techniques and other creative arts methods can make a difference with each day bringing me closer to reaching my goals,” he says.
That is why he considers the highlight of his career to be the foundation of educational touring company Black Box (1994-2017) with whom he worked on individual and collaborative projects as an actor, director, tutor, corporate trainer, event manager and playwright across the UK and mainland Europe.
Several dynamics led Moore to Malta, with a huge contributing factor being Valletta as the European Capital of Culture.
“Having worked in Glasgow (1990), Cork (2005), Liverpool (2008) and Hull (2016), I was keen to see how the event unfolded in a non-British environment. And it’s been a fabulous year,” he claims.
The Beast Within, recommended for children over eight years, is being staged at the Manoel Theatre today and tomorrow at 5pm. For tickets, log on to www.teatrumanoel.com.mt.