An Interrogation, A Stroke of Bad Luck, an exhibition about the past decade of scenographic history in Malta and the return of a children’s festival are just part of the exciting new season launched by Teatru Malta during the official opening of XENI at Spazju Kreattiv.
Teatru Malta do things differently. In fact, the model they chose to brand 2020 is Lorenzo, a Pharaoh Hound. The dog is on the front cover on the programme which references the Pharaoh Hound as Malta’s national dog much like Teatru Malta is Malta’s national theatre company.
Teatru Malta's upcoming season programme for January up until April, will be the first of three seasonal programmes to be launched in 2020. During the event, artistic director Sean Buhagiar explained that as from this year, Teatru Malta will roll out their programme plans every four months, thus having three seasonal launches instead of their usual annual launch.
"That way we can be more flexible, urgent, on the pulse of what's in demand and what's going on around us," said Buhagiar.
The evening also marked the opening of the highly anticipated retrospective exhibition XENI, a project encompassing the past decade of scenographic history across the Maltese Islands. The exhibition, a first of its kind locally is curated by Italian set designer Romualdo Moretti and boasts the work of set designers and visual artists: Matthew Pandolfino, Austin Camilleri, Adrian Mamo, Claudio Apap, Andrew Borg Wirth and Moretti himself, to name a few. Past work by a total of 12 artists will be on show in Spazju Kreattiv spaces C1-C3 until February 23.
Moretti referred to XENI as “the beginning of a long and winding journey into the world of entertainment," an ambitious project that will include three workshops on set design, set painting and set lighting along with two accompanying talks to increase awareness and knowledge on the subject of scenography. More details on the workshops and how to apply can be found on Teatru Malta’s website. There are only very few places are left.
Teatru Malta’s first production for 2020 L-Interrogazzjoni will see writer Alfred Buttigieg’s latest work be staged in a living room in a villa in Għargħur under the direction of Lee-N Abela this February. The crime-thriller will be a two-woman show starring actresses Clare Agius and Angele Galea who play each other's love interest in the play. The host will also be treating the audience to tea and wine and will be cooking a special dinner for Valentine’s Day.
A Stroke of Bad Luck, the endearing play about the real life of Collin Willis will make it’s return to the MADC Club Rooms stage this April after having to be postponed last year whereas Trikki Trakki Youth Theatre Festival announces Simon Bartolo, Clive Piscopo, Isabelle Gatt, Denise Mulholland, Nicole Cuschieri and Chris Gatt as its school stage directors and will see Antonella Axisa direct the festival for a third year running this March.
Recent December production Ħax-Xjuħ will be developed into a club for people aged 60 or over with the aim of encouraging members to get active theatrically.
Valletta will also be surprised with the sporadic Xilallu shows, a street theatre and parkour project which premiered in 2019, and which is aimed for teenage hang outs in the capital city. As part of their commitment towards the National Climate Emergency, Buhagiar also announced that Teatru Malta will be going vegetarian and that as from 2020 all Teatru Malta events will serve scrumptious vegetarian food.
For more information on the Teatru Malta January to April 2020 season programme, visit teatrumalta.org.mt.