Theatre Traffic lights on 'direction'

Last month's Theatre Traffic's discussion, held as always at the Manoel Theatre Coffee Shop, threw light on the way different theatre directors in Malta see their role. The dynamic discussion brought to the fore some very interesting views by Simon Bartolo, Josette Ciappara, Jon Rosser and Marcelle Teuma, who formed the discussion panel chaired by Viki Ann Cremona. The debate provided insights into the different approaches to directing and how this can be developed in Malta.

The first question addressed to the panel was: "Where does the director's work begin?" Ms Teuma and Ms Ciappara agreed that much depended on the kind of performance one was working on.

As directors, they felt that if a dramatic text was available they would take this as the starting point. Otherwise, the director could choose to work with the physical and verbal material that actors would have constructed in the course of their training sessions.

In this context, actors create their own personal "texts" without a performance in mind. These are then integrated into the performance material. Mr Rosser, both an actor and a director, affirmed that he preferred to start with a close reading of the text, while Mr Bartolo confessed that, generally, each member of Aleateia, the group that he co-directs with Loranne Vella, started working physically on a set theme. The play-text that Mr Bartolo writes as the actors' work builds up is drawn from what he witnesses developing before him.

The influence of the play-text on the work of the director inevitably dominated a good part of the debate. Mr Rosser stressed that the text is "the starting point and the end point" and added that "any director who forgets that is making a big mistake".

Ms Ciappara agreed with her colleague that the first read-through with the actors could already give the director an idea of what to expect from the performance and that a good director had to "feel the impulses the actors give you during the read-through". She claimed: "When you begin with a read-through, you would already have cast. As from day one, I expect the actor to come prepared".

Ms Teuma opposed this approach. She seemed to voice the objection of several of those present when she held that there is "no three-dimensionality" in reading and that such early discussions might block the creative process for the actors.

Ms Teuma, who has just directed a highly successful Marat-Sade, argued that "theatre is not literature", that "the text must be rewritten" in the course of the production and that she found a read-through sterile.

"I need to hold a workshop and I would have a specific reason for it. I feel the play when I have the actors on their feet". Nevertheless, towards the end of the discussion she stated that she would like to see more collaboration between the author and the director, clearly expressing the wish of all present.

Mr Bartolo is both playwright and director but he stated that his group was alien to the experience of read-throughs. "My actors cast themselves and I write from what my actors give me. The text is important but it comes second to the actor's work."

Ms Vella confirmed that "Simon will not show us his papers" until a later stage of the process, "not to allow the actors to fall into clichés".

The pedagogical relationship between actors and director was given particular importance in the discussion. In Aleateia, Ms Vella is responsible for the formation and preparation of the actors. Ms Ciappara, former head of the Mikelang Borg Drama School, insisted that direction and pedagogy go hand in hand.

All four agreed that the director must have important communication skills. Mr Bartolo shared Mr Rosser's view that "the actors might surprise the director with their work on their character, so s/he must be flexible and patient [...] the director is a catalyst".

Ms Ciappara explained that "the director plays a psychological game" and must have the insight to understand what is happening at the human level in order to keep everyone in the right frame of mind. Ms Teuma agreed it was important to "create a climate where the actor can work and research".

Curiously enough, the panel appeared to be taken by surprise when they were asked what makes the director a creative artist, and passed the floor to the public.

"What makes the director an artist is his vision", and to this contribution Ms Vella added that the director certainly must have something to say. Dr Cremona stated that the director's capacity lay in the way s/he chooses to weave the elements of the performance, while Martha Gauci recalled the idea of the famous Parisian director Ariane Mnouchkine that the role of the director is like that of a midwife, who has nothing to do with the conception but helps deliver the creative work of the actor.

When asked how financial constraints affect their work, the directors' response could be summed up in the words of Ms Ciappara: "When you want to make theatre you make it!"

She agreed with Ms Teuma that certain productions demand a certain budget and that good PR is a must. Mr Rosser claimed that financial constraints did not affect that much and he observed that "some of the best performances I've seen were done with nothing".

Mr Bartolo went further in affirming that you could "use your limitations to your advantage". However, all agreed that a certain financial basis was necessary and members of the public spoke about the financial risks that theatre companies have to face in a country where theatre does not always get the attention it deserves.

A particularly adverse stand was taken with regard to the way television dramas are commercialised. Ms Ciappara pointed out that "the policy and thinking of TV has no vision of theatre but it pays and that makes people happy".

Towards the end, she expressed the wish to see "less copied performances" in the theatre, a hope that was echoed by the public. Although it can be said that there are as many ways of directing as there are ways of making theatre, everyone agreed that direction is in itself an art and that we all would like to see more of that "art" in our theatres.

Theatre Traffic is an initiative of the Theatre Studies Programme (Mediterranean Institute) of the University of Malta in collaboration with the Manoel Theatre. The next topic to be discussed is Performance and the Digital World on February 26 at 7.30 p.m.