Take Two’s venture into theatre begins with a tall order – adapting Clare Azzopardi’s acclaimed novel Castillo to the Spazju Kreattiv stage.

As I take my seat in the Spazju Kreattiv theatre, slowly adjusting to the unrestricted seating the new COVID mandates have allowed, my eyes are drawn to centre stage where a plywood vanity table resides with prominence. “It’s nice to see a full theatre again,” I think to myself as I look on, noticing a metal bench and some geometric patterns on floor of the stage.

I find myself not too enamoured with the set design, thinking the table too patchy and the floor patterns too shaky and misshapen. I endeavour to bracket this initial impression until the play proper begins.

Amanda (Analise Mifsud) and the younger Emma sitting across each other in the opening scene.

Onto the stage comes Emma (Simone Spiteri) and her daughter Amanda (Analise Mifsud). They sit at opposite ends of the vanity, Emma in the 1980s and Amanda in the present day. They converse without speaking to each other, in different locations and in different times. This opening scene is extremely effective, highlighting the complexity of the original narrative the play is adapting, written for the stage by Carlos DeBattista.

The crux of the play is the death of Emma’s sister Catherine (Cathy) Penza (Rachel Geno­vese), a prolific writer and creator of the titular character Dennis Castillo, a police inspector widely popular among local readers. Cathy was killed by a bomb blast in the ’80s and Emma became obsessed trying to unravel the mystery of her sister’s tragic death.

Amanda (Analise Mifsud) listening to the older Emma (Simone Zammit).

Amanda was abandoned by her mother as a child. She only goes looking for her in the present day to get a signature from her. She meets an older Emma (Simone Zammit) slightly taken by senility. Amanda too becomes caught in the tragic past that binds them and starts looking for clues into her aunt’s death.

Castillo (Mark Doneo) is charmingly sardonic; Doneo’s performance easily stole the show. Those unfamiliar with the plot might have found it surprising to figure out his place in the narrative and that he’s not as composed of flesh and blood as initially perceived. Rather, he relays the subconscious of those who write him, whether Cathy or Emma, and later Amanda.

A central dramatic element in the play is the melding of scenes from different points in time and in different locations

A central dramatic element in the play is the melding of scenes from different points in time and in different locations. Characters onstage interact across space and time with impressive ability, testament to Abigail Mallia’s competent direction. This was best executed during a four-way parallel scene near the end of the play between the younger Emma and Cathy, and Amanda and her husband Matteo (Andre Mangion).

However, not every such scene came across with the same ease. At one point in the play, audiences witnessed a conversation between Amanda and the older Emma and a simultaneous one between the younger Emma and Gina (Daniela Carabott Pawley).

As the older Emma recounts past events to Amanda, the same is enacted onstage. There is a point in which Emma’s words and Gina’s are spoken at the same time, leading to some slight unintelligibility. It is clear this particular scene would have been better executed in film rather than in theatre.

The younger Anne (Francesca Scerri) and Cathy (Rachel Genovese).

The acting was generally of a high calibre, particularly from Doneo, and later from Frida Cauchi, who plays the older Anne. I felt, however, that the interactions between Amanda and Matteo had a touch of over-expression, as though they spoke in a tone of perpetual exasperation. In a separate scene showing the younger Anne (Francesca Scerri) and Cathy drunkenly plodding their way home from a night out, I felt their movements came across too heavily, even for a tipsy pair. All in all, however, there is little to criticise in this respect.

The political motif of the play is exceedingly poignant and painfully current. One can’t help but break into a sarcastic smile when hearing the words “int qatt rajt xi ħaġa tinbidel?” (as if anything’s ever changed here), or chuckle at the supposition that TVM would not be interested in an interview with Amanda on her scathing new book.

Take Two’s production does justice to a highly regarded piece of Maltese literature in the same spirit of reflection as the original. I am sure they will only improve their theatrical ventures as time goes by.

The final staging of Castillo is running at Spazju Kreattiv today at 7pm and will continue to be available on-demand until February 25. The production was commissioned by Spazju Kreattiv in collaboration with Take Two and supported by Arts Council Malta.