Nicole has lived in Malta for the past 15 years and has been actively involved in theatre and film. Before that she lived in London and studied costume and film and since then she has worked as a creative producer and director and costume designer in theatre. Her day job is casting agent on movies and commercials and she also produces her own art-house films.
"In the theatre scene, I love creating my own artistic events, and over the years I have produced locally written theatre productions, an immersive theatre and video show, an interactive video installation, a video art exhibition, a photography and illustration exhibition and several cabaret shows held around Valletta," she explains.
Most of this is done through her organisation, Creative Island, which she launched in 2010. Many of these projects were supported by the Malta Arts Fund. When she is not networking, organising and 'mousetrapping' her colleagues and friends into imaginative projects (as she puts it), she is most likely at home cuddling her two mischievous dogs and her very fat cat.
'Apocalesque' features such various weird and wonderful characters as a satanic priest, a psychotic ring master, a crazy savage cat lady and a far right group who blame homosexuality for the apocalypse.
"Topical, local events are a strong inspiration for our shows, which we then place in a different, more bizarre context, " Nicole explains, "A post-apocalyptic theme is a morbidly exaggerated view of the future of Malta, yet it sometimes feels we are heading in that direction. This therefore seemed like a perfect theme for this show, as it inspired all sorts of weird and wonderful ideas."
The main script writers of the show are Teodor Reljić and What's their Names Theatre Group. Veronica Stivala, Marie Claire Camilleri, Becky d'Ugo and Miriam Calleja have also written and devised their own pieces while Alex Vella Gregory and Zicotron are the songwriters of the group.
"This time round, I am also collaborating with Undine LaVerve and her troupe for the dance pieces. The other actors involved are the multi-talented Joseph Zammit, Coryse Borg, Svetlana Pandolfino, James Ryder and the wonderful Kevin Canter," she says, "This show is not like any other in Malta. You will laugh and scream at the same time. All the material is written especially for the show by some of Malta's most innovative creative talent. It is a show full of black humour, horror, black metal and blood."
Nicole says that the best part of the process so far is reuniting with all the group again after a four-year break from the shows.
"Our first show was in 2008 and this will be our eleventh show to date. We have evolved extensively in 10 years, yet our crazy essence is still as strong as ever. It's also great to have new faces in the show this time round. We are like a big family and we inspire each other's darkest imagination," she smiles.
'Apocalesque' will take place at City Lights, St John Street in Valletta n the 18, 19 and 20 May at 8.00pm. Tickets are available from http://www.creativeisland.com.mt/events/apocalesque. For more information, look up 'Apocalesque' on Facebook.
