Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1161926
17 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 1 SEPTEMBER 2019 INTERVIEW Gold Rush', etc. Do you see any corresponding subtext in Clews's output? Not directly, no. The big change happened in '47/48… and that was Rediffusion. Redif- fusion changed Charles Clews, because he acquired a new au- dience that was previously una- vailable to anyone writing for the stage. As part of the post- war effort to 'boost morale' – which, incidentally, is what the Stage Commandos had been commended for, during the war – in 1947, Rediffusion decided to substantially increase the number of Maltese-language programmes. So they tasked Effie Ciantar to produce more programmes that would appeal to a Maltese audience: keeping in mind what the general lit- eracy level, etc., was among the broader population at the time. Ciantar brought in people like Salvinu Tellus, to create chil- dren's programmes; with the Catholic Acton Youths, he pro- duced 'Is-Siegha Tal-Morda'; he spoke to Kelinu Vella Haber, and together they created a 'lit- erary hour'… but where Charles Clews was concerned, there were two significant develop- ments. First, they started broadcast- ing bands playing live at band- clubs; then, live stage perfor- mances at local theatres. It didn't really work, to be honest; you would have no idea what the scenery was; if there were visual gags, you wouldn't get them; if the actors were playing off facial expressions, or there was a surprise appearance on stage… you'd have no idea what the audience was laughing at, or applauding… But all the same, a lot of the stage plays produced in 47, 48, 49, were broadcast by Rediffu- sion; and the Stage Comman- dos was one of these acts. And they were also one of the first to be recorded live, and broadcast later. Among the things that Charles Clews noticed, was that to write for radio is very different from writing for the stage. Even the same scene would have to be written completely differently. Clews understood this; which explains why the Stage Com- mandos were at their best, on Rediffusion, when Clews was with them. Because he was tell- ing jokes. There was nothing visual about it at all; you hear the joke.. and you laugh. More often, though, it was a comic dialogue between Clews and Johnny Catania… with Clews 'playing it straight', and Catania getting all the punch- lines. They quickly realised that those routines were more pop- ular; and Effie Ciantar invited Clews and Catania to come in for a regular slot… pairing them up with someone else who was also brilliant at this: Armando Urso. I feel he deserves a men- tion, too, because Armando Urso is practically unknown to- day. But if I said, 'Lanca Gewwa U Ohra Sejra'… which most people think that's a traditional Maltese song… I have to admit I'm one of them… …. Well, the lyrics are actually by Armando Urso. It's an adap- tation of a popular 1951 Italian song, 'La Barchetta In Mezzo Al Mar' – and he wrote it specifi- cally for this new programme called 'Radju Muskettjeri'… so named because they were three: Clews, Catania, and Urso. All three of them wrote; but Clews wrote the most. And the stroke of genius, with Clews, came from his other work in the theatre. He started creating these memorable, fic- tional characters; and because radio was an aural medium, he would concoct names that were alliterative or onomatopoeic: 'Bertu Il-Bumbardun'; 'Fredu Frendo Sghendo'; 'Toto Tanti'; 'Mabbli Fabbli, il-Kuntistab- bli'… all fabulous names. And then, the characters would be played by these wonderful ac- tors – including Johnny Nav- arro, later. But initially, it was just the three radio musketeers. Clews's most memorable cre- ation, however, was 'Karmena Abdilla': a radio serial that went on for almost two years… and culminated with all the listeners of the programme being invited to her wedding at the Radio City Hall in Hamrun: and, well, we all know how that went… Like any good joke, though, some of us might want to hear it again… In that case, the full story will be told in the book we're issuing to coincide with the centenary exhibition: 'Ejjew Nidħku Ftit Ieħor ma' Charles Clews's, out on September 7. But the really significant thing about Karme- na Abdilla was that she was a fictional creation that was truly, 100% Maltese – and not an- other 'Grand Master La Valette' type – who instantly captured the imagination of the wider public. She was also absurdist in the style of a Beckett or Ionesco character… or Pirandello, who was another huge influence on Clews…. The book's title derives from Clews's own published series of humorous works. How much of his written legacy, has, in fact, been published? A lot, but not all. Clews re- leased seven volumes of 'Ejj- ew Nidhku Ftit'… but he also worked on an eighth, as yet unpublished edition. [Excerpts will be included in the book.] Part of the reason he never published it was that he prob- ably wasn't too happy with it himself. Some parts of the manuscript are scratched out, with hand-written comments on the side… but maybe he just never got round to it. But there are also other short stories that he wrote, but never published… or which were maybe published in newspapers, and then forgot- ten. By any standards, though, Charles Clews was an incred- ibly prolific writer. In the 1964 edition of Who's Who, for in- stance, he is credited with hav- ing written 3,000 scripts over a period of roughly 20 years… that's a staggering number. And according to his children, he was always at his typewriter… Yet most of his output was on radio … where it was heard once, and never played again. How much of his actual work has survived in that form? Do recordings still exist, and have they been archived? I'm glad you asked, because this is what brought me to Charles Clews in the first place. As a country, most of our ar- chiving is only done for pro- duction purposes. For example: PBS and Where's Everybody co-produce a series called 'Bio- grafiji'; their goal is not to col- lect oral histories about, in this case, Charles Clews; or to en- sure that photographs, clips or recordings are properly docu- mented and archived. Their goal is to produce a one-hour biographical documentary about Charles Clews: nothing more, nothing less. So if you go to PBS and ask them for their photos, they'd say: 'Oh, probably Joe Julian Farrugia has them; because he was the producer'. Now: Far- rugia has a very impressive col- lection; some of which he has been kind enough to share with the MP3 Foundation… which is trying to do the opposite: it is collecting such material, with no immediate intention to pro- duce anything at all. Just to en- sure that it is there… preserved. So when I came to editing the centenary book about Charles Clews, I was lucky enough to find all the material already archived… thanks in part to Joe Julian Farrugia, but also to Alan Clews: the curator of his father's legacy. We have now digitised all this material; and it is available to anyone who wants to do re- search. But it was a stroke of luck, ultimately. The problem is: we don't systematically ar- chive this sort of material. And there is a danger that some of it – not just with regard the Charles Clews, of course – may be lost. years of laughter