L-Arrest ta’ Danny Weed, based on the real-life arrest of Daniel Holmes, is playwright ALFRED BUTTIGIEG’s latest play. The writer sits down with Lara Zammit to discuss how his first farce came to be.

“The case always fascinated me. I always saw it as excessive,” began playwright Alfred Buttigieg about the now infamous Daniel Holmes saga.

Buttigieg’s latest play L-Arrest ta’ Danny Weed – his first-ever farce – was inspired by Holmes’s arrest for cannabis offences and subsequent imprisonment. It takes to the stage next month at Blue Box Theatre, Msida, under the direction of Michael Fenech.

Holmes was 28 when he was arrested in 2006 at his Gozo flat, where he was growing cannabis plants that he insisted were for his personal use. He was given a 10-year prison sentence when the case was decided in 2011 and was released in 2018. The case sparked great controversy with many campaigning to release Holmes from prison.

 “Holmes was given a 10-year sentence over five marijuana plants, of which he served eight. Only he can say whether or not he was a pusher – I always try to give a balanced picture – though based on the evidence that was gathered, it does seem to suggest the plants were for his personal use,” said Buttigieg. 

“So, to give that kind of prison sentence, which sometimes not even convicted murderers get, for this kind of thing seems rather excessive to me.”

Apart from his prison term, Holmes was banned from Malta until the end of 2023, so Buttigieg said he was unable to invite him to come watch the play he inspired.

But despite the direct inspiration, the playwright insists that Daniel Holmes and Danny Weed are not the same person.

 “The case always intrigued me. Holmes wrote a book published by Lovin Malta about his time behind bars. I didn’t read it though I was interested about the part on his arrest, and that inspired me.

“I didn’t want to write a biography of Holmes. What interested me was his arrest,” said Buttigieg, noting that he only used some small details from the story Holmes tells in the play and changed several others. A notable difference is that while Holmes is a Welshman, Danny Weed is Scottish. 

He also emphasised that the farce is chiefly a criticism of the police.

 “The main target of the play is the police – their inefficiency, their corruption, the bullying tactics that they use. This is what stands out throughout the play,” he said.

The play is composed of four police officers – a sergeant, an inspector and two constables, along with Danny Weed and another character whom Buttigieg introduced after revising the script following a play reading. 

This additional character takes on numerous roles, from a priest to a journalist and one of the neighbours.

The cast features actors Audrey Scerri, Chris Spiteri, James Ryder, Matthew Sant, Simon Curmi and Sean Briffa.

Not easy to make people laugh

L-Arrest ta’ Danny Weed is Buttigieg’s sixth play and first farce, though he has been crafting humour into his work since the beginning, and rather distinctively.

“My other plays had some humoristic elements in them, so much so that someone wrote a dissertation on the topic, but I always wanted to challenge myself to write a farce,” he said. 

The main target of the play is the police – their inefficiency, their corruption, the bullying tactics that they use

His primary motivation was to push back against the myth that a farce is a low-brow, crass affair intended for people incapable of thinking, but he also wanted to write a farce to push his own boundaries.

“It is not easy to make people laugh and sustain their laughter throughout the play,” he said. “This was my first attempt at writing a farce. I don’t know whether I managed or not, but the audience will decide that, though I think I’m 80-85 per cent there.”

Buttigieg also credits the play’s director Fenech, who produces and directs the satiric production Bla Kondixin every year.

“This is the first time I had the same director for two of my plays. I always had a different director for every play I made, and Michael directed my first one – Ir-Rewwixta Tal-Qassisin – and this last one,” he said. 

A happy ending?

“Holmes was completely alone and lost here in Malta – he had no one to turn to, no family ties or friends in high places – and that same feeling is replicated in Danny Weed,” said the playwright.

The difference between Holmes’s story and Danny Weed’s is the ending, he says, since Danny manages to turn things in his favour in the end.

That said, no one in the play is ever seen to be totally good.

“They may all actually be on the side of the bad, for all we know. Danny Weed is no saint. I didn’t try to portray him as a total victim or total hero,” said Buttigieg. 

“Here in Malta, we have a choice. You either know that there is some corruption happening and you do something about it, or else you become complacent and say something like, ‘u ijja the police are corrupt; I’m OK so long as I know about it’.

“I wanted to bring out these two attitudes of our society in the play – we all know that corruption is everywhere we look,” he said. 

This latest play, akin to his past ones, took around three to four years to write, saying the origin of his plays usually entails a thought he would have been ruminating about for some time.

Despite the lengthy writing time, Buttigieg said the recent debate on the cannabis question coincided with the play’s production well, saying they had pledged to hold a conference on the safe use of cannabis as part of the programme.

Asked for his views on cannabis, the playwright said he didn’t have a strong opinion about it either way, but said he was cynical about the concessions it was recently given in Malta.

“I don’t have a strong opinion on any side. Like most things, if you take it in excess, it will cause you harm. You can’t say cannabis is totally safe.

“I am afraid of it in Malta because, like all such things, it’s easy enough to introduce, but to monitor it is either difficult or there is no will to do it.

“Call me cynical but imagine how much cannabis will be bought up by these shops that sprouted out of nowhere that are already selling accessories,” he claimed.

“We know how things happen in Malta. If we knew that things would be introduced in a serious manner, maybe I’d have more faith, but I see more negative consequences to this introduction than positive ones.”

L-Arrest ta’ Danny Weed will be staged on March 3-5, 10-12 at Blue Box Theatre, Msida. For tickets, visit bluebox.com.mt. Danny Weed is supported by the Maltese Council for the Arts.