A troupe of Austrian community actors, led by Ingrid Wagenhofer, is in Malta to perform Forum Theatre at the Malta Drama Centre. The Viennese group is in Malta as part of a Lifelong Learning EU (Grundtvig) project which also involves four other European countries.

The Austrians were introduced to Forum Theatre techniques at the Drama Centre in November 2005 and since then, they have researched “issue drama” related to Maltese social realities.

They have based their researched scripts on the implications of mass tourism in Malta, where native factors like traditional architecture and the ecological environment can be seriously compromised. On the other hand, the Austrian troupe has also devised a script called Sequence: Young Love in Malta, where a young girl discovers her body changing into that of a woman’s, wondering what is happening to her. “This is a sensitive, typical condition” explains Ms Wagenhofer. “The young woman doesn’t know how to deal with these changes and she turns to a symbolic character called Mr Ethics/Morality for help, but she is given the cold shoulder, her plea passing unnoticed.”

The two pieces will be played in German/English and then in Maltese by a group of actors from the Drama Centre. The audience will be asked to intervene at any point and is also entitled to select any character for what is known as “hot seating”, where the fictional persona has to answer to any questions posed by members of the

public.

The Austrian Forum Theatre project will be staged at the Malta Drama Centre tomorrow and will be of great interest to people working in the social sphere. The show starts at 7.30pm and entrance is free of charge.