There are only a few days left before the second edition of Trikki Trakki, the Youth Theatre Festival organised by the national theatre company Teatru Malta, arrives in a blue box near you. You've guessed right: after weeks of rehearsals, six groups of local 10 to 11-year-old students from schools all across Malta will be directed by popular people such as Malcolm Galea, Josette Ciappara, Anthony Bezzina, Stephen Oliver, Isabelle Gatt, and Isabel Warrington as they perform six adaptations of classic texts for their audiences at M Space's Blue Box Theatre in Msida.
The idea to re-adapt the likes of Homer's The Odyssey into a 15-minute show in Maltese, for children, seemed challenging to say the least; but these were challenges that Festival Director Antonella Axisa welcomed with open arms. "We want to promote excellence in all the theatre arts from a very young age and we are giving these kids this incredible opportunity to do what they love for a full week and get a taste of what the professional theatre world is like out there. The enthusiasm and commitment shown by these students has blown us away."
The aim to create a festival for children by children sprang from Teatru Malta's first programme in 2018. Why not have our children fully immerse themselves in the world of theatre? Not only by performing, learning lines and dressing up but also by making their own costumes, contributing their own ideas to the scripts and learning how to apply their own stage make-up! These kids are the future of theatre and, judging by the shows they will be putting on for schools on 5th April and for the public on Saturday, 6 April, the future is looking very bright!
All these shrunken classical adaptations will be performed in a mixture of Maltese and English in an effort to encourage bi-lingualism. They promise to be a treat for everyone, especially for all those who know the originals and can really see what the students, together with their respective directors, have managed to cleverly create with the original works of Moliere, Shakespeare, Homer, Aeschylus and Chekhov.
Trikki Trakki is a show for the whole family. Come and support young local talent this April and get ready to have these talented kids blow you away with their stellar shows. What Trikki Trakki is doing is truly inspiring and the children can't wait to have you in their audience.
Trikki Trakki Youth Theatre Festival will be performed at the Blue Box Theatre at M Space, Msida on 6 April at 5pm and 6.15pm. This festival is supported by the Drama Unit and the Ministry for Education and Employment. For more information and to buy your €2 tickets, please visit kultura.mt
Photos: Elisa von Brockdorff