Għanqbut f’Moħħha is a story of obsession and the fear of intimacy. Director and co-producer TYRONE GRIMA speaks to Lara Zammit about the work.

LZ: Għanqbut f’Moħħha, an original work of theatre produced by Tyrone Grima and Sharon Bezzina, is inspired by Henry James’ short story The Way It Came (1896). It will be presented for the first time on April 14, 15 and 16 at the Valletta Campus Theatre. How will this story of fear and obsession transpire? How did you interpret James’ story to produce Għanqbut f’Moħħha?

TG: In this production the exploration of fear was paramount. The performance plays with a variety of stimuli to reach this objective. Apart from the narrative itself, we have experimented with physicality, the use of space, smells, sound, music and silence. The intimacy of the theatre also contributes to create the required atmosphere.

However, Għanqbut f’Moħħha goes beyond the scare factor. In fact, that was less important as we dug deeper into the work.

The supernatural element is there, and we gave it its due importance. But what matters mostly in this piece is the fear of intimacy.

The supernatural, indeed, becomes a metaphor to represent this human struggle that most of us can relate with, the push and pull between wanting to be part of meaningful and significant relationships, and yet being afraid, sometimes to the extent of paralysing and sabotaging our own emotions.

As the journey of the protagonist, Isabel (Sharon Bezzina), unfolds, she spirals down into further and more compulsive obsession.

James’ short story, despite not being his most popular or famous one, captures this fear poignantly.

In our version, for this is a devised piece, we took the main themes in the short story, and developed them further, adding a bit of our own imagination through the exercises that I conducted with my cast, and at the same time allowing myself to be influenced by other great authors of the genre such as Honoré de Balzac, Guy de Maupassant and Oscar Wilde. 

LZ: Henry James is known for his supernatural leanings. How does the supernatural feature in Għanqbut f’Moħħha and how does it differ from James’ story?

TG: The story of the piece revolves around the reopening of an antiques shop – an element that we do not find in James’ work, but which was developed from Balzac’s La Peau du Chagrin.

Isabel inherited this shop which had been closed down for years ever since her parents had died in a tragedy at the back of the shop. All the community seems to know partially what happened, and yet there is this deep secrecy and sense of mystery.

In our version, for this is a devised piece, we took the main themes in the short story, and developed them further- Tyrone Grima

Isabel decides to defy fate and yet in doing so, the ghosts of the past arise, which effect the whole community, particularly her dear ones, her husband-to-be, Ralph (André Mangion) and her best friend, Milly (Sarah Lee Zammit). As is the case very often in this genre, it is the journalist (Bradley Cachia) who tries to put the pieces together.

Representing the voice of the community, Harry probes deeper, not only in the personal lives of the three protagonists that are united together somehow in a strange love triangle, but also in the eerie presence of the guardian of the antiques shop, Peter (Miguel Formosa) who seems to know more than what the eye meets.

Ultimately, the question remains: how much of this is real or is it only the figment of the obsession of Isabel?

LZ: How did you as director, co-producer Sharon Bezzina and the cast work together to devise this production?

TG: This lengthy process was divided into several phases. In the first part of the work, we improvised on the salient themes that emerged from James’ story.

At this stage we focused on physicality, without the use of words, and we allowed our creativity to guide us.

We then had a full week of training by Piper Theatre, an American theatre company who flew all the way from New York to offer intensive workshops with the cast.

This was followed by more sessions of improvisation and initial structuring, trying to put the pieces together to see what characters emerge and what storyline can develop.

In March, I brought everything together by writing the first draft of a script. This was tested out with the actors, and re-edited accordingly, and then tested out with ‘outsiders’ and arranged again based on the feedback given.

So yes, it was a laborious process, with a lot of head scratching, but am more than glad with the outcome and extremely curious to see how they engage with it.

Għanqbut f’Moħħha will be presented at the Valletta Campus Theatre on April 14-16 at 8pm. Tickets are available from showshappening.com/Tyrone-Grima/Ghanqbut-fMohhha. This project is supported by the Malta Arts Council and by MCAST.