On the 1st and 2nd of November, a selection of Malta's finest actors will take to the Teatru Manoel stage for 'Għażiż Francis', a play that celebrates the life and work of Malta's most important playwright and novelist of the mid to late 20th quarter

The name Francis Ebejer will be recognizable to many Maltese people, particularly those interested in literature and theatre. But who was he, beyond a successful writer?

Born in 1925, Francis grew up in Dingli with his parents Ġuże and Josephine, and six siblings; two of whom sadly died in infancy. As a young adult, he led an interesting life, dropping out of medical school after just four months to serve as an English-Italian interpreter in North Africa with the Great British Army during the Second World War. Upon returning to Malta he entered the Maltese educational system as a teacher, even spending some time studying and researching in England and the United States.

During this time he wrote a variety of short stories, poems, and essays in English. He began experimenting with writing in Maltese - and subsequently gained increased popularity in Malta - when he won a radio play competition in 1950 with a play called Ċpar Fix-Xemx. Over the next three decades, he led a prolific and successful career as a writer, publishing an impressive number of novels, novellas, stage plays, radio plays, screenplays, and poems. He generally wrote his novels in English and his plays in Maltese, but often translated his works between the two languages, and his works have even been performed or published in languages such as French, Italian, Spanish, German, and even Japanese.

Ebejer's novels were wildly popular for their use of language and treatment of complex themes such as society and identity, but his work as a playwright undeniably gained him the most critical acclaim. His works for the stage have been praised as ground-breaking for Maltese theatre, often pushing the boundaries of what was expected of the genre. Ebejer's plays have been compared to those of leading playwrights such as Samuel Beckett, Eugene Ionesco, and Harold Pinter for their absurdist style and tackling of universal themes with individualist protagonists.

His style of theatre was groundbreaking for Maltese audiences and critics, and in fact, his first play Vaganzi tas-Sajf not only won him first place in a playwrighting competition at Teatru Manoel in 1962, but also received pushback from the local censorship board for dealing with themes of religion and existentialism. With Vaganzi tas-Sajf, Ebejer provided Maltese audiences with an entirely new theatrical experience. That is to say, it was 'new' for Maltese theatre, but was a style of theatre that had become largely popular decades before in the rest of the Western world. Other popular plays of Ebejer's include Boulevard (1964); Menz (1967); and L-Imnarja Zmien i1-Qtil (1973).  Ebejer passed away at 67 years old, in his Swieqi home in 1993. His last novel 'The Maltese Baron and I Lucian'  was published posthumously in 2002.

Extracts from a variety of Francis Ebejer's works will be weaved into the narrative of 'Għażiż Francis' alongside the recollection of personal memories and anecdotes from the play's original actors, Peter Busuttil and Pino Scicluna, who were both very close to Ebejer. In the original production, Busuttil and Scicluna played themselves, and this time round Sean Borg and Davide Tucci will take on those roles. Directed by Peter Busuttil, Borg and Tucci will be joined on stage by an ensemble of top-tier Maltese performers.

'Għażiż Francis' was first staged in 2007 as part of the Malta International Arts Festival and is being revived to commemorate the centenary of Ebejer's birth in 1925, with the production touring various localities in Malta in 2025. This production is dedicated to all those who knew, worked and argued with Francis.

Research, adaptation, and scriptwriting for 'Għażiż Francis' were done by Professor Marco Galea, with music by Andrew Vella Zarb. Performances will take place at Teatru Manoel on Friday 1st and Saturday 2nd November, starting at 8 pm. For more information on the performance and the cast, and to book your tickets, visit https://teatrumanoel.mt/event/ghaziz-francis-2/ or call the Box Office at (+356) 21246389