Director CHIARA HYZLER and actress BETTINA PARIS speak to Lara Zammit about the play On the Other Hand We’re Happy showing at Theatre Next Door.
On the Other Hand We’re Happy, a play about love, hope and redemption written by award-winning Welsh playwright Daf James, opening at Theatre Next Door on April 21 and is having its final run between April 27 and 29.
The play, produced by FM Productions, features actors Bettina Paris, Anton Saliba and Sandie Von Brockdorff under the direction of Chiara Hyzler.
“I’ve loved directing this piece,” says Hyzler. “It’s allowed us to really play with time and space and everything in between, and to explore the lengths you’d go for your family and the unfortunate consequences that addition has on life choices.”
The play marks a return to the Maltese stage for Paris, who is among the actors starring in the piece.
Bettina Paris“On the Other Hand We’re Happy actually marks my first straight play on the Maltese stage since Unifaun’s production of Attempts On Her Life by Martin Crimp back in 2015,” began Paris. In 2016, she continues, Paris formed part of the ensemble of a couple of locally devised pieces, as well as Whatstheirnames Theatre’s first staging of their annual Shakespeare play, where she also took on her first stint as a director.
She left Malta in 2017 to take on an internship at Chickenshed Theatre in London and have been based there ever since. She furthered her studies in acting at Arts Educational Schools London and graduated in 2018.
“Since graduating, I formed my own theatre company, had my debut as a director on UK soil at the Space Theatre, Isle of Dogs, and somehow, among the struggles that countless lockdowns brought upon our industry, managed to work simultaneously as an actor, theatremaker and director,” she said.
I love a challenge, and I am constantly in search for opportunities that will allow me to grow within my craft and as a person- Bettina Paris
December 2021 marked Paris’s return to the world of musicals in over a decade, when she formed part of Teatru Malta’s Il-Qfil u l-Ħelsien Skont Manwel Dimech.
Earlier this year, Paris also wrapped up shooting for Hallmark’s The Dancing Detective: A Deadly Tango, where she played alongside Lacey Chabert and Will Kemp. “I love a challenge, and I am constantly in search for opportunities that will allow me to grow within my craft and as a person. Hence, why when presented with the opportunity to form part of this play, I couldn’t say no.
Anton Saliba“I have long been an admirer of Chiara Hyzler’s work as a director, and have been itching for a chance to be directed by her for as long as I can remember,” she says.
“This play also signifies my first time working alongside Anton Saliba with us both in the actor’s seat, as we’ve previously collaborated as writer and director on Ninu in 2019. I’ve also known Sandie Von Brockdorff since we were kids and it’s so wonderful to work alongside her and see her growth as an actor and all-round wonderful human.”
On the Other Hand We’re Happy will be staged at Theatre Next Door between April 27 to 29. For more information, visit www.tnd.com.mt. This project is supported by Arts Council Malta.