Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1137604
THIS WEEK THEATRE maltatoday | SUNDAY • 30 JUNE 2019 4 First of all, could you tell us a little bit about what it's like to be returning to the Maltese stage, albeit as a director and not an actress? Since 2009, I have been work- ing again mainly in German theatre, acting and directing. But I always wanted to come back to work in Maltese thea- tre... and when I found the stage version of Pope Joan, I felt this is the moment. The problem in the past was that the financial risk I had to take as a producer – as for all producers in Malta – was quite heavy because I work full-time in theatre, so this is how I make my living. But when Teatru Malta and the Malta Interna- tional Arts Festival came in as producers, and thanks to spon- sorship from the German Mal- tese Circle, the Goethe Institute and the US Embassy in Malta, we gained a proper budget for such a big production. So this was extremely helpful and I am very happy about the support. If you ask about my personal feel- ings about being back working in Maltese theatre... I love it! I had missed it, and this is a very special time in my life. It is great to work with actors and people in the team I have been work- ing with in the past, and with people whom I got to know only recently – we have grown together in these last few weeks into a strong group focusing on one thing: the premiere of Pope Joan. Why did you feel that Pope Joan would be the right production to make your 'Maltese comeback', and what is it about the play that appeals to you most as a theatre-maker? And particularly, given the Maltese context in which it will be staged, with the country loaded religious history...? Religions, in general, have suppressed women and placed them into a role where they were expected to be silent and serve. In our societies, we have moved on from these extreme positions... yet all the prejudices about women are still present, and it is still more difficult for women to get into positions in which they are able to change things and make key decisions. I have always believed that gender equality will be a relief for both women and men, and I hope that in the long run we manage to walk along the long path together. Pope Joan is a reminder of the roots of these misconceptions about women. When I read the play for the first time a couple of years ago, big discussions about the refu- gees from Muslim countries were at a peak in Europe... the most conservative people here, not exactly known as feminists, seemingly discovered female emancipation and wanted to save us from the 'evil, medieval' times that parts of the Muslim world seem to be stuck in... So I also felt the play is a lit- tle reminder that our past of suppressing women in society through religion isn't all that re- mote after all. The idea of fe- male priests within the Catho- lic Church – to say nothing of, well, female popes of course – also seems to be rather re- mote. But there are currently strong movements in the Cath- olic Church, so maybe not all is lost. The play is also not black and white, since it shows how some people within the Church discover Joan's intelligence and support her on her path. As a theater-maker, the play is a challenge because it moves to different places all the time. I am working with a highly expe- rienced German set/costume/ light designer, who worked at theatres such as the Berliner Ensemble. We decided to work with historical costumes in the early medieval style, but to introduce a very modern ele- ment: we are using projections, produced by well-known and internationally recognised pho- tographer, Darrin Zammit Lupi. Additionally, most of our actors will be taking on multiple roles within the play. Planning the logistics of the production came with its own set of challenges, but thanks to a team of won- derful ladies – among them our production coordinator Gabija Kazlauskiene and my assistant Having galvanised the contemporary Maltese theatre scene in the early noughties, German actress and theatre-maker Irene Christ returns to the island to direct Pope Joan – working off Susanne Felicitas Wolf's stage adaptation of the Donna Woolfolk Cross novel – at the unique location of the Mdina Ditch, under the umbrella of Teatru Malta and as part of the Malta International Arts Festival programme Dreaming of a female Teodor Reljic Maria Buckle takes on the title role in Pope Joan Irene Christ "We have grown together in these last few weeks into a strong group focusing on one thing: the premiere of Pope Joan"