Local theatre productions in the English tongue seem to be popping up everywhere, yet plays in Maltese are nowhere to be seen. Save in some embarrassing third-rate comedy, or in theatres that attract only a few dozen people. In spite of this, theatre company Atturi Salesjani are giving us yet another play in Maltese. Miriam Galea speaks to director Lino Ferris.
Dehra Mill-Pont is a Maltese translation of Arthur Miller's play A View From The Bridge, written by the well-known American author back in the fifties. Director Lino Ferris fell in love with the author's work when he purchased a book of his plays after playing the main role in another Miller play which his own wife directed last year. Dehra mill-Pont tells the story of an Italian immigrant family living in the New York suburbs. The family consists of Eddie Carbone and his wife, and their teenage niece who they have brought up. When Eddie first accepts to host his wife’s two Italian cousins, who have entered the United States illegally, he comes across as a generous and kindly man. However, when the younger of the cousins, Rodolpho, falls in love with his niece Catherine, expressing the wish to marry her, Eddie's life is disrupted and his affection for Catherine is revealed to be something other than merely paternal.
"The play is very down to earth," says Mr Ferris, when asked about what intrigued him about the script, "It deals with the perennial problem of illegal immigration and, though it is set in America of the fifties, what happened back then with Italians immigrating due to the dire economic situation in Italy following the second World War is in fact repeating itself in the world today – people are always aspiring to build a new future."
Mr Ferris first read the play in English and then decided that he wanted to translate the script. He discovered through a friend that A View From The Bridge had actually been performed in Maltese at the Manoel Theatre in the early seventies, with the script being translated by Prof. Joe Friggieri. When Mr Ferris contacted the professor, however, the latter had lost all trace of his copy of the script, after such a long stretch of years. There was nevertheless one last hope. Prof. Friggieri guided Mr Ferris to Lino Grech, now a renowned local writer and director, who back then had played the main role of Eddie. Smiling, Mr Ferris describes how Lino Grech’s copy of the translated script, written at a time when hardly any photocopiers were around, came to him stencilled and scribbled over with notes.
The six characters in the play are all demanding roles, Mr Ferris tells me, and the cast is made up of a number of suitably seasoned actors. Atturi Salesjani goes back to 1977, producing every year around six plays in each theatre season, which usually starts from October and runs until April. “When you think about it, these amount to over 200 productions,” Mr Ferris calculates, “however, the company has existed for much longer under a series of different names since the Salesian Theatre was opened in 1908.” Next year, in fact, the theatre will be celebrating its centennial anniversary.
According to Mr Ferris, the secret behind the company surviving for so long is the familial bond between its members who grew up together at the Sliema Youth Club run by the Salesian Fathers. “Atturi Salesjani has around 80 members now and we’ve grown to know each other so well that we have a very good team spirit.” Also, most of the members end up involving all of their family in the production, with husbands, wives and children helping in the booking, marketing, costumes and set construction. “There is always a Salesian father in charge who animates the group and encourages us to participate and get involved,” Mr Ferris adds, “as all the proceeds from our productions go to the Salesian fathers and their work for the welfare of youth.”
Throughout the season, the company makes sure to produce two comedies, which are generally a favourite among theatregoers, and two serious dramas, so as to offer their audience a variety of shows. Despite its extensive history, the Salesian Theatre has still remained quite a self-enclosed entity. What kind of audience do these productions attract? “In the past, our patrons used to be mostly people residing in the Sliema area. However, in the last ten years or so we realised that more people were attending from all over the island.”
Finally the discussion inevitably falls on the relevance of Maltese in the current theatrical scene, and the fact that many theatregoers dismiss Maltese language productions even before they know what they are about. In these past 30 years, all of the plays by Atturi Salesjani have been produced in Maltese. Apart from the given fact that as a nation, we should be proud of our language, Mr Ferris points out that it would actually be easier to simply lift an English script, rather than go to all the trouble of translating a work of literature into your own language, using local idioms while still retaining the original essence. “But I believe it helps our Maltese culture to flourish further,” he claims. Mr Ferris says he often spoke to Maltese people who normally only watch English productions and, “after watching a play in Maltese, they are thrilled as, in the end, the version in their native tongue somehow comes closer to the heart.” He shrugs, “Some may be prejudiced, it’s true, but the majority finally end up enjoying it.” Mr Ferris doesn’t exclude the possibility of one day producing a play in English but, for the moment, “most of us prefer acting in Maltese”.
Dehra Mill-Pont is being performed by Atturi Salesjani at the Salesian Theatre in Sliema on Saturday 21 April at 7.30pm and Sunday 22 April at 6.30pm. The cast consists of John Frendo, Marthese Vassallo, Claudia Azzopardi Frendo, Michael Caruana Smith, James Spiteri and Paul De Bono. Booking is open by phone on 9949 1024 or 2131 1744, or daily from the Salesian Theatre between 6.30 and 8pm. Visit the Salesian Theatre website on www.salesiantheatremalta.com. Free parking is available at the Salesian grounds during the performance.