As it’s Theatre Anon’s 30th anniversary, Esther Lafferty joins two of the original members of the company, PAUL PORTELLI and CHRIS GATT, to reflect on its past and hear about two performances being staged next week at the Manoel Theatre.

“Theatre Anon was set up by a group of friends,” begins Paul Portelli, “and starting out, we wanted to do things a bit differently, to experiment to give ourselves a bit of a challenge. We certainly never planned to have a theatre company three decades later. However, all the founder members are still involved, we continue to enjoy it and our productions have gone from strength to strength!”

This month, to mark the 30th anniversary since Theatre Anon was founded, the theatre company will be showing two of their all-time best productions, namely Daqsxejn ta’ Requiem lil Leli from February 15-18 and The Little Prince from February 16-18, both showing at the Manoel Theatre.

“We tend to look forward, one production at a time, so this is a great opportunity to look back at how much we’ve done since we first performed Candide in March 1994,” continued Portelli.

The actor said it has always been important to the members of the company that they up the stakes with each production and explore unchartered territory.

“For example, as well as doing large site-specific outdoor theatre shows like Ospizio in Floriana back in 2010, more recently we introduced puppetry with Land of the Big Word Factory in 2017 and Daqsxejn ta’ Requiem lil Leli in 2018,” he said.

Portelli said they are delighted to be performing Daqsxejn ta’ Requiem lil Leli again on February 15.

The Little Prince will be showing at the Manoel from February 16.

“It’s a wonderful production, a Malta Arts Festival commission performed only once with a haunting score played by an eight-piece chamber orchestra,” continues Portelli, who, as director of this performance, worked with composer/conductor Kris Spiteri to set Immanuel Mifsud’s title poem against a wonderful visual backdrop created by Vince Briffa.

The following night, Theatre Anon will also present The Little Prince which they developed for the ŻiguŻajg Arts Festival for Children and Young People in 2021 and is back by popular demand.

With the first of the two shows based on a contemporary poem reflecting on death, written and performed in Maltese (with English subtitles), and the other a classic children’s written in French 80 years ago and performed in English, I suggest these will be markedly different in flavour.

The main narratives are surprisingly similar although each takes a very different approach

“Actually,” smiles Portelli, “the main narratives are surprisingly similar although each takes a very different approach. Daqsxejn ta’ Requiem lil Leli is like a photo album of snapshots from life, looking back at moments of love, happiness and sorrow too, and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the author of The Little Prince, is also trying to reconnect with his early years and the joy of childhood. Both are really a celebration of life.”

A poster for Theatre Anon’s very first show 30 years ago.

Chris Gatt, director of The Little Prince, continues: “In The Little Prince we are not simply telling the story with which people are familiar. We’re intertwining the original narrative with the life of the author himself. And although it is often considered a children’s book, it’s almost a philosophical treatise hidden in a fable.

“We have tried to balance the two elements in the script as we illuminate the illogical logic of adults and the logical ‘illogicality’ [a word we coined together in the interview!] of children who can often perceive the truth at the heart of a matter.”

Gatt went on to express that what’s important to them, as Theatre Anon, is the way they tell the story, which matters much more than learning lines.

“We ask why we are putting on a particular story, deconstruct elements of the narrative and put them back together as a theatrical experience. I’m particularly interested in the imaginative use of technology to do this: in The Little Prince animated projections by Francesca Grech evoke the style of the illustrations in the book.” 

Japanese-style puppetry is used in The Little Prince.

They also use Japanese-style puppetry in the show, where the actor is visible on stage. They ask the audience to join them on a journey into magical realism. Seeing the way the puppets and the actors work together really draws people in, says Gatt.

The score for the piece was written by Albert Garzia who will be performing on stage he has collaborated on so many of our productions he’s an honorary member of the group. Blurring the line between musicians, actors and designers, so everyone ‘builds’ the show together is integral to their process, and also keeps it fun, he says.

And, I ask, what are Theatre Anon’s plans for the future? They are working, I’m told, on two new original productions but they’re still under wraps so watch this space. And in the long term?

“Like Molière, perhaps we’ll die on stage,” laughs Gatt.

For more information and tickets for Daqsxejn ta’ Requiem lil Leli on February 15 and The Little Prince on February 16, visit teatrumanoel.mt.