Edward Bond’s Chair will soon transport local audiences to an apocalyptic future, where a chair can change lives. Laura Bonnici speaks with director CLIVE JUDD to find out more.
“I’ve always hugely admired Edward Bond,” begins Clive Judd, on directing the English dramatist’s satirical play Chair at Spazju Kreattiv later this month.
“He is fearless and articulate, with an uncanny ability to predict the future. It is also a joy to be working in Malta again with Adrian Buckle. I directed his production of Macbeth in 2019, and this one is proving just as thrilling!”
Produced by Adrian Buckle and Malta School for Drama and Dance, Malta’s first production of Chair promises to be thrilling – and thought-provoking – indeed.
Described by The Guardian as “a strangely hypnotic play that proves a chair is as potent a visual symbol for Bond as it was for Vincent van Gogh”, Chair takes place in an apocalyptic world in which people are no more than products living in a new version of Auschwitz. In this not-too-distant (and scarily achievable) future, family means nothing and compassion is a crime – so much so, that simply offering someone a chair has the power to change lives.
“The play is about the dangers of historical amnesia, forgetting how the choices we make and the language we adopt lead to the worst things we can do to each other as human beings,” warns Judd. “If we forget our individual and collective histories and responsibilities to each other, we risk those histories cycling back round again in newly devastating ways.
“The play articulates this point in an alarming fashion, while reminding us just how close we might be to repeating the mistakes of the past.”
For the Malta premiere, a top cast of performers will shape this dystopian world including Erica Muscat, Ann-Marie Buckle, Alex Weenink and Faye Paris.
As for the chair itself, there is nothing remarkable about it as an object, and that’s really Bond’s point- Clive Judd
“The cast are all absolutely superb,” he adds. “Whenever I work in Malta, I’m reminded how fully the actors immerse themselves in the tasks of the rehearsal room. Some of the best improvisational work I’ve ever seen happens here. It helps that I have worked with Erica, Ann-Marie and Alex before, but Faye has committed wholeheartedly to my particular and possibly unusual way of working, too.”
Bond’s Chair tells the story of Billie (Buckle), a young woman on the autistic spectrum, and her caretaker Alice (Muscat), who illegally takes in the girl. Alice manages to keep Billie’s existence secret from the state – until the day she takes pity on an elderly prisoner outside her flat and offers her a chair, in an act of human kindness that will start a chain of events beyond her control.
“The tightly wound, cause-and-effect nature of the play’s action struck me the most,” Judd highlights.
“We have worked hard to create a slow intensity to the scenes, which allows us to see the play as a series of small (and not so small) chain reactions and informs both its traffic and tragedy. Stillness and silence mirror the constraints put on the characters and their fear of dire consequences for what we would view as minor infringements, as well as of their constant surveillance.”
Meanwhile, sound design from Michael Quinton, lighting design from Chris Gatt and set design from Romualdo Moretti all add to the mesmerising experience. “The set is an abstract depiction of a world in a state of terminal deterioration,” concludes the director.
“It might not be a literal representation of the characters’ landscape at that time but it certainly works as a metaphor. Everything is broken and crumbling beyond repair, both physically and within the human psyche. As for the chair itself, there is nothing remarkable about it as an object, and that’s really Bond’s point. It’s about how a simple item deployed under a certain set of circumstances can be a revolutionary act.”
Adrian Buckle and the Malta School for Drama and Dance present Edward Bond’s Chair on April 21, 22, 28 and 29 at 8pm, and on April 23 and 30 at 7pm, at Spazju Kreattiv Main Theatre, Valletta. This performance is suitable for audience members aged 16 and over. This project is supported by Arts Council Malta. Tickets are available online.