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maltatoday | SUNDAY • 9 JUNE 2019 5 THIS WEEK THEATRE forgiveness Photography By Jacob Sammut "Things around us have changed, but we are still the same people we were 400 years ago" active story-tellers. The Tem- pest will be staged around a pool, with elaborate lighting. The spectacle of the theatri- cal experience takes centre stage. Playing only Miranda, it is great to focus all my re- hearsal time on building her up and making her read to a larger space. The Tempest enjoys a healthy critical and cultural afterlife, being of particular interest to thinkers and scholars of the post-colonial vein. Which of the play's many thematic and narrative strands excite you the most, and how do you feel it is relevant to contemporary audiences? Forgiveness. Although this is a 400-year-old play, Pros- pera is a character that we all know too well, and that perhaps at times, we have had similarities to. She is tired, and vengeful. She car- ries around the wrongdoings of others towards her for years, letting them affect her life, as well as the lives of her daughter, who is denied her mother's love and attention, and Ariel and Caliban, whom she enslaves without batting an eye. She preaches justice, yet her idea of it is very one- sided and selfish. Since the play has no higher order of justice, Prospera is allowing herself to toy with people's minds, as she carves out her vengeful plan. Yet, with all her mystical power, she simply forgives her enemies, thus demysti- fying her. I feel that one of Shakespeare's biggest attrib- utes is his ability to create characters that are rooted in reality. Things around us have changed, but we are still the same people we were 400 years ago. Just like Prospera, we all struggle with the idea of forgiveness, making this play, and many other Shake- spearean works as relevant today as they were then. What's next for you? I will share the stage once again with cast of MARA at The Edinburgh Fringe Festi- val this summer. After that, I hope to continue working on theatrical productions as to expand my education through watching other actors and di- rectors at work. Directed by Stephen Oliver for the MADC, The Tempest will be staged at the San An- ton Gardens in Attard from June 28 to July 8 at 8.30pm. There will be no performance on July 1. Bookings: http:// booking.madc.com.mt/ Michela Farrugia as Miranda (right) and Gabriela Mendez as Caliban