The performing arts programme kicked off with Improvizza! Malta’s First Improvisational Festival. A four-day event which hosted local and international performers and improvisers, culminating in a series of performances at the Spazju Kreattiv theatre. Maltese productions took prominence in our theatre programme this year with nine
productions. Our first collaboration was It- Teatru tal-Miskin, an original musical by Luke Saydon and directed by Denise Mulholland. The story was a queer coming-of-age story of a boy who dared to wear high heels, about intolerance and people’s innate fear of the unknown, set in the imaginary town of Ħal Fern. Ta’ Fuqha Senduqha followed, penned by André Mangion and directed by Toni Attard, premiered at Spazju Kreattiv in October 2022. The story delved deep into the current poverty situation in Malta through the depiction of different realities experienced by people who are socially and financially deprived. Simultaneously, in one of our studios as part of Arts Council Malta and Aġenzija Żgħażagħ’s Artivisti Programme, KomduSkomdu penned by Miguel Formosa and Lee-N Abela asked if the rules and perimeters that we live in today’s society make sense. Our last theatre commission for 2022 was KWIJNS, an entertaining piece of theatre by Maltese drag performers, penned by Simon Bartolo and directed by Ray Calleja. It featured five drag performers in a fantastical story of someone discovering their inner drag persona, featuring dancers and special guests Claudia Faniello and Debbie Scerri. The audience had many flamboyant surprises customary of the drag tradition of performance.

At the turn of 2023, the theatre season saw the premiere of Bil-Bieb Mitbuq, a theatre project with a contemporary vision based on Kevin Saliba’s Maltese translation of Jean-Paul Sartre’s No Exit (Huis Clos) and directed by Tyrone Grima. This multidisciplinary production brought together literary translation, theatre, film, dance and soundscape. Following the previous year’s success, Spazju Kreattiv and Festival Malta collaborated to stage two performances of Il-Qarċilla at the Spazju Kreattiv Theatre before it continued its run outdoors like in tradition. This endeavour allowed the public to visit St James Cavalier and experience the performance in a completely different setting. Studio 18 celebrated its 10th anniversary and hosted a special performance titled Il-Giddieb Għomru Twil, penned by Anton Saliba and directed by Jean-Marc Cafà. Inspired by Carlo Collodi’s Pinocchio, the piece brought the renowned puppet’s story within a local context in a twisted tale that delved into the woes of a culture of impunity. In the Easter period, our theatre hosted the annual passion play produced by Carlos Farrugia and Joseph Galea. Fit-3pm, penned by Lon Kirkop, revolved around the pain of a couple losing a child. Pained by the loss, the father imagines what life would be like if his daughter survived as he battles his conflicting thoughts.

At the end of April, Spazju Kreattiv hosted Pastażuni – Tikber u Titnitten after hours, a stand-up comedy in Maltese intended for adults portraying a guy who’s looking back at his upbringing and sexual experiences, from the very first rude words at school to his first relationships as an adult. Written and directed by Joseph Galea, aided by unpublished poems by Trevor Żahra, and original records by Ċikku l-Poplu (aka Alex Vella Gregory) the show proved to be an entertaining watch for those who attended. Throughout the programme, other productions piqued the interest of different audiences, such as the adaptation by Brad Birch of Frank Wedekind’s coming-of-age classic Spring Awakening and Edward Bond’s post- apocalyptic tale Chair, both produced by Adrian Buckle and with British directors James Grieve and Clive Judd respectively at the helm. The now customary MalTease returned for its sixth edition with a blend of Maltese and international burlesque performers showcasing a highly diverse and entertaining show that always manages to lure enthusiastic audiences. Both The Trials of Magnus Coffinkey and Walking Home proved to be a moving experience within our intimate theatre space. The Trials of Magnus Coffinkey, penned by Malcolm and Angele Galea, created a fairytale in which a couple grieves the loss of their child born sleeping. The story outlines the grieving process of dealing with this loss through fictitious characters in a fairytale. On the other hand, Walking Home was a devised performance exploring the politics and tensions within the issue of sexual violence against women and people of marginalised genders.

The 2022 I 2023 season was also host to critically-acclaimed international shows from Italy, Belarus and Spain. L’Ultima Estate – Falcone e Borsellino – 30 Anni Dopo kicked off this series in collaboration with the Istituto Italiano di Cultura La Valletta. This event commemorated the 30th anniversary of the Capaci and Cia D’Amelio massacres. Writer’s Asylum followed in February. The performance’s starting point was photographs taken by Zmicer Waynowski, a direct participant in the Belarusian protests of 2020, who was able to capture all the main aspects of these complex and dramatic events. Told by the man himself, this performance proved to be a highly emotional night for those present. Closing off the international strand was I Will Celebrate My Death, a play supported by the Embassy of Spain in Malta, which narrated the events for which Dr Marcos Ariel Hourmann was convicted for practising euthanasia illegally in Spain with episodes from his own life in his native Argentina. In the end, the audience was asked to deliver the verdict and discuss the conflicting opinions of the matter with Dr Hourmann himself. The ongoing collaborations with Studio 18 saw the reintroduction of the Theatre Mentorship programme for the second year, where six participants participated in week-long lectures on stage management, costume design, production management and set design. Later on, in 2023, these participants were engaged in several theatre productions to carry out their mentoring within their chosen field. Together with Aġenzija Żgħażagħ, the commissioned piece Thirst Trap returned for another year, touring in various sixth forms around the island. This work was produced by Spazju Kreattiv, and developed by Studio 18, to tackle subjects such as consent, agency, sex work, commercialisation of the body, boundaries and body dysmorphia. The production successfully toured MCAST Paola and Mosta, The Institute of Tourism Studies in Luqa, KSU at the University of Malta Campus, Junior College in Msida, Verdala and finally at the Aġenzija Żgħażagħ premises in Santa Venera.

The theatre programme was again supported by Taħdita Teatru which is a series that provides a platform for artists and audiences to discuss the discipline and brings performances closer to interested audiences from a behind-the-scenes point of view. These talks, together with those of Art Additives, will be uploaded on the newly- created podcast channel for anyone to listen to at their convenience.