{"id":728,"date":"2019-12-16T20:20:44","date_gmt":"2019-12-16T20:20:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/?p=728"},"modified":"2023-03-15T11:39:04","modified_gmt":"2023-03-15T11:39:04","slug":"theatre-in-malta-amateur-practice-and-professional-aspirations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/theatre-in-malta-amateur-practice-and-professional-aspirations\/","title":{"rendered":"Theatre in Malta: Amateur Practice and Professional Aspirations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Vicki\nAnn Cremona<\/strong>*<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abstract<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

This article provides a general outline of theatre in Malta where the small size of the archipelago (316m2<\/sup>) makes it difficult to develop professional theatre. It evaluates the issues theatre faces when confronted by political constraints that affect cultural policies and outlooks. It looks at the growth of theatre education in Malta that has raised standards and demand for professionalization of theatre. Productions in English and Maltese are discussed, and the changes in attitude and the emergence of new authors are highlighted. The article also considers the disadvantage of the lack of proper theatre criticism and how this can contribute to raising standards and attendance.
Keywords:<\/strong> Malta, amateur, income, politics, culture, pantomime <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Malta\nhas no fully professional theatre. Those involved in the theatre in Malta\ncannot rely on it as a sole source of income (if, indeed, any income at all).  Anyone wanting to perform on stage has to\nhave a principal job; consequently, theatre is looked upon more as a hobby than\nas a profession. It is, therefore, no exaggeration to describe the Maltese\ntheatre scene as being, in essence, \u201camateur.\u201d This determines both\nattitudes and choices: although children are encouraged to do theatre to\ndevelop their personalities, they are discouraged from taking it up as a\nprofession. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amateur\ncompanies range from community theatres, which cater solely for the\ninhabitants of their parish, village or town, to bigger companies, which also produce\nperformances at the main theatres in and around the capital, Valletta. The two\noldest theatre organisations are the Malta Amateur Dramatic Club (MADC),\nfounded in 1910, with a membership of approximately 220 members (which makes it\nthe largest theatre association in Malta), and the Ghaqda Drammatika\nSan Lawrenz in Gozo, founded in 1945 (a community theatre catering mainly for a\nsmall village of about 750 inhabitants). Like many other such companies, Ghaqda\nDrammatika stages the traditional Easter passion plays, Christmas pageants and\nother plays and types of performance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Politics and Its Effects on Culture and Theatre<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

The\ndevelopment of theatre in Malta has to be viewed within the context of the political\ntwo-party system which affects all sectors, including the cultural\nadministration of the country. There is no Ministry specifically dedicated to\nculture; the sector has been attached variously to the Ministry of Education, Tourism,\nParliamentary Secretariat for Youth and Sports and, currently, to the Ministry\nfor Justice, Culture and Local Government. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nMalta Council for Culture and the Arts was created in 2002, and, for the very\nfirst time, it launched an Arts Fund in 2009. A national cultural policy was\nestablished in 2011, and, the following year, Malta won the bid for European\nCapital of Culture (ECOC) 2018. Following a change in government in the 2013\nelections, the new government repealed the 2002 law and created the Arts\nCouncil, Malta, changing the Council\u2019s senior management, committee members and\nthe Chairman and management heading ECOC. The cultural policy was never fully\napplied, and evaluation criteria for the Arts Fund did not retain the same\nrigorous arms-length principle that had been applied formerly.  Many theatre practitioners had pinned their\nhopes on the fact that the year-long capital of culture would contribute to a\nleap of quality in the arts in general and theatre in particular. The lack of a\nclear policy, proper artistic direction and holistic planning did not provide\nthe necessary impetus to push theatre in new directions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Official\ndata concerning theatre attendance has not been collected over the past six\nyears, and the statistics published by the National Statistics Office (NSO)\ndate back to 2012. They indicated a very low percentage of theatregoers with an\naverage seat-utilisation rate of 58 per cent. Each performance was shown twice\non average, and six performances were staged by each theatre. There is no\nindication that there has been a major rise in theatregoing in the last few\nyears. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Scene from Raymond \u201cFight\u201d Beck<\/em>. Photo: Zvezdan Reljic<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The national theatre organisation Teatru Malta, launched in 2017 by the Arts Council, is a promising step for theatre development. The organisation is affiliated to the European Theatre Convention (ETC). It is described as a \u201ctheatre without walls\u201d because it does not have a fixed company or repertory. It is run on the basis of short-term projects (weeks or months at best) which bring together different artists who disperse once the project is over. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All\nthe staff at Teatru Malta, as well as those of the National Dance Company, are\ncontracted as service providers, which means that, technically, they are\nself-employed. Teatru Malta\u2019s artistic director, Sean Buhagiar, aims to attract\nnew audiences to the theatre. In order to achieve this, he has turned to new\nthemes in his programming and direction, such as boxing, as in the play Raymond \u201cFight\u201d Beck<\/em>  (performed 2018)[1]<\/sup><\/a> by\nAndr\u00e9 Mangion, which brought boxing fans into the theatre for the very first\ntime; or bird trapping (which is popular among a certain section of the\npopulation), in Nassaba\u2014Song of A Bird<\/em>, conceived by artist and\nwriter Jimmy Grima. Other initiatives include the launch of an annual youth\nfestival Trikki Trakki<\/em>, where\nchildren perform productions specially conceived for them and directed by\nnational leading directors such as Josette Ciappara and Malcolm Galea. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Video 1<\/h6>\n\n\n\n