What productions have you staged so far and what was the feedback?
As with most of our plays, the More or Less Theatre brand itself was created as we went along. The first production was in November 2011 when we were commissioned to create a children’s piece for the first edition of the Ziguzajg Children’s Art Festival. This is an amazing event that puts our children in direct contact with local and international theatre of the highest calibre. Wanting to work on something educational and fun, we created The Complete History of Malta (More or Less) and let the show loose on the unsuspecting public. The play went down well and almost three years later, we’re still regularly performing an improved version of the play for schoolchildren and tourists. A year later, we decided to stick to the same formula with Everything you need to know about Science (More or Less) and we came up with yet another show that is still getting regular requests. By then we realised that we wanted to do this more often so we started branding More or Less Theatre. The Complete History of Europe (More or Less) is the third play in our repertoire and by the time the fourth edition of the Ziguzajg Festival rolls around in November, we should have three more pieces to add.
What acts as your inspiration when deciding on subjects and sketches?
I get inspired by many things but mostly I just try to create things that I think I would have enjoyed when I was a kid. Having my own kids also helps although they’re still a bit too young to be in the target age-range. As someone who works full-time in theatre, I tend to try my hand out at pretty much everything. If I enjoy doing something, I keep on doing it and if I don’t, I don’t.
Can you share a funny moment or two from performances so far?
The shows have a strong improvisational nature about them so making spontaneous additions are par for the course. Probably the funniest times are when we do a performance in Maltese. As yet, our shows haven’t been translated to Maltese yet so Joseph (Zammit) and I improvise the translation on the spot. This gives us plenty of opportunities for messing around as we try to make each other corpse (laugh when we’re not supposed to). Joseph got me a couple of weeks ago when we were doing the bit about St Paul during a performance of The Complete History of Malta (More or Less). I had just said that when St Paul approached the fire, he was confronted by a snake (lifgha in Maltese) that leapt out of the flames. When Joseph burst upwards with his snake puppet, he decided that it would somehow be appropriate for the snake to shout “LIFGHA!” in my face.
Another experience that’s somewhat uncanny is that sometimes people bring babies to our shows. This is no big deal of itself – however on three separate occasions we’ve had women breastfeeding in the front row. This is also no big deal, but in each of the cases, the baby would stop at some point and turn to look at us while the mother (who would also be looking at us) would sit there for a good three minutes ‘hanging loose’ so to speak. Joe and I are professional about things like that but from two feet away, it can be something of a distraction.
Tell us about The Complete History of Europe (More or Less).
The play goes through 7000 years of European history (from the Bronze Age right up until the current formation of the EU) in a way that is fast and funny while also being memorable. How often do you get to laugh and learn at the same time?
Since this is the third More or Less Theatre play in our repertoire, it follows the formula that was popularised in the first two years. I play the serious know-it-all who’s trying to make the show look professional whereas Joseph tackles the performance with great energy and enthusiasm despite clearly knowing very little about the subject matter. This is kind of ironic since in reality, Joseph’s the history expert and he’s great help when it comes to researching scripts.
What’s the next project for the team?
Four weeks after The Complete History of Europe (More or Less) we’ll be staging Id-Dlam taht it-Teatru; my play which won the Francis Ebejer award for Best New Children’s Play in 2012. This will be my first play in Maltese and while it’s good for the whole family, the play is particularly ideal for teenagers aged 13-15. This show is quite different from our usual fare and deals with a 15-year-old girl who discovers a dark and terrifying secret while working at the Manoel Theatre. Rehearsals are well-underway and the cast includes Philip Leone-Ganado, Naomi Said, Kris Spiteri, Joseph Zammit and Karen Decelis.
Following that we’ll be presenting Everything you need to know about Music (More or Less) at the fourth edition of the Ziguzajg Festival in November.
Europe as you’ve never seen it before
Take yourself back to your dreaded school desk and reminisce about those tedious hours suffering the bombardment of knowledge while your mind flittered on other, more important stuff, like how you were going to get your Amiga computer to play your game from a cassette, and how you were going to spike your hair. Wouldn’t it have been great had lessons been more interesting, with the people you had to learn about coming to life and acting stupidly? You might have done better in your exams and studying would have been a piece of cake.
If this resonates with you, then why not take your kids to watch the third installment in the More or Less Theatre Series? This time it’s The Complete History of Europe! European Studies and even Systems of Knowledge will surely make more sense after watching it. You get to have a laugh this Easter, your children will think you’re the best for taking them and they will remember names like Socrates and Charlemagne without any hassle!
The Complete History of Europe (More or Less) will be staged on 17, 19, 21 and 22 April at 6.30pm, at St James Cavalier’s Music Room. Tickets can be booked via www.sjcav.org.