Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1096093
THIS WEEK THEATRE maltatoday | SUNDAY • 24 MARCH 2019 4 As the defining theatrical group of which she is a founding member re-emerges from a four-year hiatus, playwright and director Simone Spiteri speaks to TEODOR RELJIC about Repubblika Immakulata, an upcoming political satire aiming to expose the nation's neuroses How does it feel to be celebrating the 15th anniversary of Dù Theatre, and would you say Repubblika Immakulata is an adequate play to commemorate this occasion? It's surreal if I think about it, we've done and achieved so much over the years. At the same time it's mind-boggling... where did 15 years go? It feels like it was only yesterday we were just girls work- ing in a cold garage with nothing but a bunch of (sometimes over- idealistic/naive) ideas. How are we grown-ups now? It's funny and also wonderful that we are still in each other's lives – despite us being such different people with totally different lifestyles. The company has remained the glue that holds us together as an extended family which now in- cludes partners, parents, siblings, children – the whole works. Re- pubblika Immakulata reflects, I suppose, the coming of age of the company and probably my writing. It's my most political, harsh, no- holds barred play to date. It's a mix of being older, a tad wiser, defi- nitely more cynical and completely uninterested in beating about the bush on matters I and the company feel strongly about. I guess it's an adequate metaphor for being 15 and rebellious, right? The group is also returning from a four-year hiatus. What were some of the main reasons for this 'break', and has this lull contributed to how you're approaching Repubblika Immakulata? We periodically take these breaks because we feel they are healthy – for the group's dynamic and also for each one of us as an individual artist. Experiencing theatre in dif- ferent set-ups and with different people is always beneficial and it stops us from rusting inside our own bubble. Members of the group have worked in different compa- nies, I've written a lot in the past four years for other companies and people and travelled for writ- ing residencies, and then there's obviously big life changes that af- fect thirty-something women: par- enthood, careers and the commit- ments that come with them. We miss each other a lot when we have these breaks but then that always means we're all bursting with en- thusiasm and creative energy when we regroup for a new project and Repubblika Immakulata, which is also a collaboration with Spazju Kreattiv, was no different. Can you trace a line of evolution from your previous work to this upcoming play? My earlier plays such as Appunta- menti and Kjaroskur were more fo- cused on the intimate relationships between people. While I am still very much interested in exploring the language the Maltese use to communicate with one another and finding ways to capture it on stage in such a way that it sounds familiar to audience members in the thea- tre, the pivot of these earlier works was always inter-personal relation- ships. Repubblika Immakulata is a springboard to something I have never done before because the do- mestic set-up of the play – a family of siblings whose lives intertwine through a general election, village festa and a wedding – acts as portal to wider metaphors of our lives and identity as a nation, collectively. The characters all have their nar- row limitations and personal trials and tribulations but what the play tries to do is hold up a mirror to the audience who might glimpse themselves between the folds of Teodor Reljic A nation of extremes Kristjana Casha in Repubblika Immakulata