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12 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 15 JANUARY 2020 CULTURE Teatru Malta gears up for 2020 AN Interrogation, a Stroke of Bad Luck, an exhibition about the past decade of scenographic history in Malta and the return of a children's festival are just part of the exciting new season launched by Teatru Malta last night during the official opening of XENI at Spazju Kreattiv. We've gotten used to the fact that Teatru Malta do things dif- ferently. In fact, the model they chose to brand 2020 is Loren- zo, a Pharaoh Hound. The dog is on the front cover on the programme which references the Pharaoh Hound as Malta's National Dog much like Teatru Malta is Malta's National The- atre Company. Their upcoming season pro- gramme for January up until April, will be the first of three seasonal programmes to be launched in 2020 by the Na- tional Theatre company. Dur- ing the event, Artistic Director Sean Buhagiar explained that as from this year, Teatru Malta will roll out their programme plans every four months, thus having three seasonal launches instead of their usual annual launch. "That way we can be more flexible, urgent, on the pulse of what's in demand and what's going on around us", Buhagiar said. The evening also marked the opening of the highly antici- pated retrospective exhibition XENI, a project encompassing the past decade of scenograph- ic history across the Maltese Islands. The exhibition, a first of its kind locally is curated by Ital- ian set designer Romualdo Moretti and boasts the work of set designers and visual artists: Matthew Pandolfino, Austin Camilleri, Adrian Mamo, Clau- dio Apap, Andrew Borg Wirth and Moretti himself, to name a few. Past work by a total of 12 artists will be on show in Spaz- ju Kreattiv spaces C1-C3 until the 23rd of February. Moretti refers to XENI as "the beginning of a long and wind- ing journey into the world of Entertainment'', an ambitious project that will include three workshops on set design, set painting and set lighting along with two accompanying talks to increase awareness and knowledge on the subject of scenography. More details on the work- shops and how to apply can be found on Teatru Malta's web- site. There are only very few places are left. Teatru Malta's first produc- tion for 2020 L-Interrogazzjo- ni will see writer Alfred Butt- igieg's latest work be staged in a living room in a villa in Għargħur under the direction of Lee-N Abela this February. The crime-thriller will be a two-woman show starring ac- tresses Clare Agius and Ange- le Galea who play each other's love interest in the play. The host will also be treating the audience to tea and wine and will be cooking a special dinner for Valentine's Day! A Stroke of Bad Luck, the endearing play about the real life of Collin Willis will make it's return to the MADC Club Rooms stage this April after having to be postponed last year whereas Trikki Trakki Youth Theatre Festival an- nounces Simon Bartolo, Clive Piscopo, Isabelle Gatt, Denise Mulholland, Nicole Cuschieri and Chris Gatt as its school stage directors and will see An- tonella Axisa direct the festival for a third year running this March. Recent December production Ħax-Xjuħ will be developed in- to a club for people aged 60 or over with the aim of encourag- ing members to get active the- atrically. Valletta will also be sur- prised with the sporadic Xilallu shows, a street theatre and parkour project which pre- miered in 2019, and which is aimed for teenage hang outs in the capital city. As part of their commitment towards the National Climate Emergency, Buhagiar also an- nounced that Teatru Malta will be going Vegetarian and that as from 2020 all Teatru Malta events will serve scrumptious vegetarian food. For more information on the Teatru Malta 2020 season pro- gramme, visit teatrumalta.org. mt today.