Dr Gorg

Mifsud-Chircop

Local coordinator, S.M.A.R.T. project, Mosta and Ragusa

As one of the cultural joint activities forming part of their SMART project the Mosta Local Council and the Comune di Ragusa will be performing a modern sacred play from Ragusa. It is an original play, Kiffù – ‘A Cunnanna’/ X’Gara – ‘Il-Kundanna’ (‘What Has Taken Place – The Judgement’) on the Passion of Our Lord on the eve of the Holy Week in the Mosta Rotunda. The plot is intertextually moulded round various old and modern sources or ‘stations,’ authored by great minds including Jacopone da Todi, Joseph Mayr Nusser, Ignazio Buttitta, Mother Theresa, Cardinal Sodano, David Maria Turoldo, Salvatore Quasimodo and Franco Battiato.

The cast is made up of Aldo Raffaele (composer and singer), Dario Adamo (musician and singer), Vincenzo Fontes (musician and singer), Milena Nobile (actress), Cetty Schembari (choreografer), Maltese actress Miriam Galea who interprets some excerpts in Maltese and a good number of participants from the Mosta Good Friday procession. The play by Aldo Raffaele has been translated into Maltese by Gorg Mifsud-Chircop and will directed by Carmelo Pizzo and Arturo Mingardi, both of Ragusa.

The performers

Dario Adamo is a qualified tenor in lyrical singing who graduated from the Conservatorio Torrefranca of Vibo Valentia under the guidance of Marcello Pace. In 2005 he won an honourable mention in the Concors Internazionale Ibla Grand Prize. He sings solo with many different choirs, including his participation in the holy mass for choir and orchestra “L’homme armé” by Karl Jenkins performed by ‘Enarmonia’ Choir in the Cathedral of Ragusa on April 24, 2006. He also forms part of the Reusia Lyric Quartet and the Sud-Est Ensemble which performs opera and sacred music.

Miriam Galea is a university graduate in English and Art. She is a journalist by profession, an actress and director of Urbania theatrical company (2003). She has also written and published some stories in Maltese.

Carmelo Pizzo is a composer and has studied artistic management at M.A. level at the Università Cattolica of Milan. He researches local festivities in Southern Europe and in his ‘teatro dell’ambiente’ he reinterprets the traditional festive concept of the past in modern times. In 2001 he founded Studio Pizzo, a centre for artists and artisans with the aim of performing open air plays the world over as much as festive cultural activities, including music and fireworks and light celebrations, so typical of Southern Italy during various ritual celebrations on Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, Carnival, and on the feastdays of St George and of St Rosalia. His cultural projects have been performed in more than fifty cities, including Arezzo, Bilbao, Bologna, Kobe, Marounouki, Tokyo, Genoa, Greece, Caltagirone, Comiso, Corfù, Lisbon, Madrid, Milan, Modica, Moscow, Naples, Palermo, Ragusa, Reykjavik, Vittoria, and Sharm el-Sheikh.

Aldo Raffaele plays guitar, piano, bass, and percussion. He composed and authored ten albums (1979-2004). He played a major role in the musicals ‘Good Bye ’900’ and ‘Give Peace a Chance’ (2001, 2003). In 2002 he guided a course, Corso di ‘Orientamento Professionale per Disabili’ in a Laboratorio Musicale in Ragusa. In 1982/83 he formed part of the ‘Quarta Parete’ theatrical company directed by C. Carrozza and in 1977 took part in the Norwegian tournèe ‘Oslo, Voss, Bergen e Trondheim.’ As teacher of music (1974-76) with the Patronato Scolastico di Vittoria he produced the three operettas ‘Fior di Loto,’ ‘La Piccola Olandesina’ and ‘Cappuccetto rosso.’

Raffaele has directed various artistic and musical events, including the ‘Gospels’ concerts in Christmastide 2004 and the ‘La Pira Profeta di Pace’ as part of the Giorgio La Pira centenary festivities (2004). He wrote the musical scores for some of the poems in Amaro Miele by G. Bufalino for the concerts ‘Aldo Raffaele canta L’Amaro Miele di G. Bufalino’ (2002).

Cetty Schembari has followed intensive courses, leading to a diploma in classical dance, under the direction of Annamaria Prina, Principal Director of the Ballet Corps at Teatro alla Scala. She furthered her dance education in Turin and Belgrade. Schembari has worked widely as a dancer in various productions and is also very much in demand as a teacher and choreographer. She is a fully-qualified Pilates instructress and an expert in contemporary dance.

Arturo Mingardi, an artistic director who graduated with full honours in Arts, Music and Theatre from the University of Bologna, is also a qualified organiser and administrator. He is currently artistic director of the Cinema Nuovo Italiano and is also active as producer, artistic director and scenic artist of numerous productions. He has worked tirelessly for television documentaries and has been the Director of the Rassegna Cinematografica Internazionale, amongst others. Since 2003 he has been organising a Festival entitled Così vicini così lontani: la Sicilia del sud est e Malta, which is being held in Malta and Sicily. He is the coordinator of the INTERREG Project ‘S.M.A.R.T. - Sicilia del Sud-Est-Malta: radici comuni e tradizioni popolari religiose’.

This modern play, cofinanced by the Interreg IIIA Programm (Italy and Malta), will be performed on Saturday 31 March, at 8pm in the Mosta Rotunda in collaboration with Rev. Archpriest, clergy and the Presbyterial Council of the Mosta Parish Church and the Mosta Local Council. Entrance is free AND the audience is asked to be seated by 7.45pm.