Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1137604
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 30 JUNE 2019 9 CULTURE THEATRE A captivating holographic music-theatre performance, set entirely to music blending Renaissance madrigals and contemporary vocal music, will soon wow at the upcom- ing Malta International Arts Festival (MIAF). For one-night-only during the Festival, UK-based com- pany ERRATICA will pre- sent the innovative Toujours et Près de Moi?, which uses a 19th century theatrical il- lusion known as a Pepper's Ghost. In this illusion, ghost- ly objects appear to fade in or out of existence on the stage. "I had been working with small-scale Pepper's Ghost illusions for a while, and I wanted to make a piece that featured both holograms and humans interacting with them," explains the pro- duction's director and ER- RATICA Artistic Director, Patrick Eakin Young. "The subject matter was suggested by the form: holograms are like ghosts, and ghosts are about the past haunting the present, so I wanted to make a piece about two people whose past is made manifest in front of them." The piece is designed to be performed with five unac- companied classical singers who enhance the on-stage action with a score of Renais- sance madrigals and contem- porary vocals. "When I was creating this piece, I specifically wanted to work with the amazing vo- cal ensemble EXAUDI (who are performing with us in Malta), and this is their rep- ertoire," said Patrick. "This piece was created like an op- era or dance piece, with the performance growing out of the drama of the music it- self." As the five singers perform this unique music a cappella, two actors move around a ta- ble that show projected holo- grams of their past selves – which the actors themselves cannot see, and yet perform alongside in a complex cho- reography that tells a mov- ing story, as Patrick explains. "It's about a couple who are magically able to look back at their relationship – they ex- perience the pain and trauma from their past all over again, but are able, in the end, to find some kind of reconcili- ation because of it. Sadness, trauma, loss – these experi- ences never truly leave us but, in facing them, we can find a way to connect and continue." First performed at The Print Room, London, in May 2012, Toujours Et Prés De Moi? was shown at the Spitalfields Winter Festival 2012 before being revived at the 2018 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The production now joins the diverse programme of the 14th edition of the MI- AF, which this year will take place between 28 June and 14 July. Toujours et Près de Moi? will be performed by ER- RATICA at 9pm on Friday 5 July, at Valletta Campus Theatre (ex MITP), St Paul Street, Valletta. Tickets are now available. To view the full programme of the Malta International Arts Festi- val 2019, please visit www. festivals.mt/miaf or www. facebook.com/MaltaArtsFes- tival/ Holographic opera to captivate at International Arts Festival London-based company ERRATICA presents Toujours et Près de Moi? at the Malta International Arts Festival