'A dream': Maltese director steps in to lead Ian McKellen play after setback

A Maltese theatre director has described working with British acting legend Sir Ian McKellen as “a dream”, after directing the renowned actor in a play earlier this year.

Director André Agius described watching McKellen perform the one-man play Equinox after days of rehearsals as “beyond any other feeling, like I was living a dream”.

“The circumstances that led to me directing the show would possibly never repeat themselves, ever again... It just doesn’t happen like that,” he told Times of Malta.

Originally joining the production as an associate director, Agius landed the role as main director of the play performed at Scotland’s Pitlochry Festival Theatre by chance after the original director was forced to drop out close to production week.

“I was in touch with the [former] director, and everything was moving as one would expect. Then, January came, we were three days away from going into rehearsals, and he e-mailed everyone to say he would not be able to lead the show for personal reasons.”

Recounting the panic that went through the team following the director’s announcement, with Equinox and McKellen’s involvement “very important” to the theatre and its pre-season LGBTQ+ festival, which the play formed part of, Agius offered to step in.

Ian McKellen walked onstage to ‘rapturous applause’, André Agius said. Photo: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan

“What went through my head was: I have the training, I’ve worked with the director, so I understand the vision for it, I’ve read the play, I’ve prepared the play. So, I e-mailed back saying I was ready to step in and support the project... and what came back was very positive.”

A whirlwind of preparation followed, with Agius pouring over his notes in Malta before flying back to Scotland – where he is based following studies in Edinburgh – and heading straight to the theatre in rural Highland Perthshire.

Gandalf

When he first met McKellen at the theatre, Agius recalled a surreal moment where, in addition to being aware he was meeting the acting legend, he felt like he was also meeting characters from some of his most famous roles.

“You’re meeting Gandalf, Magneto, Sherlock – it’s all those things,” Agius said. “But one of the things I try to carry with me in the industry is that, essentially, you’re just meeting another person who’s trying to do the best job they can, just like you are.”

“What impressed me was that Ian was always positive and worked incredibly hard”

And it is the 86-year-old actor’s relentless work ethic in pursuit of achieving that stood out to Agius.

“What impressed me was that Ian was always positive and worked incredibly hard,” he said, noting that the iconic actor turned down taking even short breaks during long rehearsals.

“He’d say: ‘We’ve gotten into a really good groove, let’s keep going.’ He’ll keep driving and keep trying to get better and better,” he recalled, adding that the actor allowed for occasional breaks to stop for a cup of tea and biscuits.  

“The thing that I really gathered about Ian is that there is a reason the guy keeps working at his age – it is talent, of course, but it’s also just how warm, humble, respectful and hard-working he is.”

Seen it all

In addition to his work ethic, McKellen’s personality and iconic body of work also stood out to Agius when he joined the actor and Equinox playwright Laurie Slade, who joined Agius during rehearsals to provide input on the text, for dinner one night.

“He’s [McKellen] incredibly intelligent and has a laser-sharp focus on language and the delivery of language – and he’s obviously done it all, he’s seen it all. You can’t ignore that.”

The Equinox audience seemed to have agreed, with Agius describing a “rapturous applause” as the actor walked on, with the audience “hanging on every full stop” throughout his performance.

From left: Alan Cumming, Laurie Slade, Sir Ian McKellen, André Agius and Graham Norton. Photo: Pitlochry Festival Theatre

The director added that, following working together, McKellen, who has won over 50 major awards during his career, agreed to write a professional recommendation for him, a gesture Agius described as “moving and emotional”.

His experience at the Pitlochry Festival Theatre also saw him rub shoulders with other household names, including actor Alan Cumming, the theatre’s artistic director, and actor and broadcaster Graham Norton.

The Maltese director first met Cumming the previous year, when he managed to secure a meeting with the famous film actor and invited him to Blood Wedding, a play he was directing at the time. To his surprise, Cumming agreed to attend and, following a bold pitch to direct a play at the festival, Agius was invited to join as an associate director.

Recalling the early days of his career in Malta, Agius, originally an actor, said he got his first break as a director after pitching to the late veteran stage actress Marylu Coppini, who died in December, to direct David Hare’s Skylight play for MADC.

An invitation to direct Harold Pinter’s The Hothouse – translated into Maltese for the first time as Is-Serra – for Teatru Malta followed, confirming Agius’s belief that “this [directing] is what I was meant to be doing”, leading him to develop his directing skills with two years at Edinburgh Napier University.

In autumn, Agius will return to Teatru Malta as a director, something he described as “really nice... it feels very full circle”.