Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1231020
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 5 APRIL 2020 4 THIS WEEK CULTURE "Much like the generation that lived through the war appreciated access to food more than their children, so will this generation appreciate live arts more" Future-proofing Maltese theatre With all planned shows postponed until at least August 2020, Teatru Malta Artistic Director Sean Buhagiar assures TEODOR RELJIC that Malta's national theatre company remains largely uncowed by the workings of a global pandemic, as it shifts its attention to online options and, crucially, Teatru Deposit: a scheme offering incentives to local performing arts makers who plan to stage projects once the COVID-19 induced restrictions have been lifted Tele Teatru, Kwarta Kwarantina and Teatru Depożit: Could you tell us a little bit about these initiatives? Why did you feel they were the right kind of response from Teatru Malta to this current crisis? They are all quite straightforward in- itiatives really. Kwarta Kwarantina was our knee-jerk reaction; a short-term platform aimed to generate creativity from home, engaging the public while giving creatives an opportunity to cre- ate shared moments of online artis- tic expression and getting a fee for it. Tele-teatru is a medium-term project, facilitating accessibility to audiences who have now lost their right to watch theatre; people will be able to enjoy some of our best shows online. We doc- ument all our shows and we are now putting that practice to good use. Our cavallo di battaglia is Teatru Depożit. This is a long-term initiative which will help us plan with artists and for artists. The concept is simple: we pay a depos- it for a service, say actor or director, which is to be provided by them later. Why is this a good idea? Well, putting it simply, it provides cash for artists who we believe in today, in the hope that they will still be here tomorrow, hope- fully still working as artists. Had the pandemic not occurred, what would Teatru Malta's trajectory current- ly have been? We had big plans for this year. On World Theatre Day 2020 we were meant to launch our audience mem- bership scheme, develop a platform for theatre-makers to network, mentor and discuss… among other initiatives. Be- sides these, we were on the way towards launching one of our most ambitious projects yet, a site-inspired outdoor production performed in verse and dealing with Malta's problematic rela- tionship with its natural environment. Fittingly, I can confirm here that we have postponed all our shows up until August. How do you hope to recoup some of that momentum? Well, to be honest our priority is not really to recoup the momentum, but to remain a relevant national theatre com- pany. Striving to regain the momentum just for the sake of it would be a mis- take, going ahead with the same pro- gramming would be a mistake. We can- not act as if this never happened. We cannot ignore the stillness. That's the whole notion of momentum, no? What I mean to say is that we receive impetus from our artists and our audience and we will programme accordingly. We don't necessarily want to get back on track, because the racecourse might not be the same. What are some of the ways that you hope the theatre going public will respond to these initiatives? Do you think you'll manage to recoup the same numbers, and even perhaps recruit some 'newcomers'? How so? And in the case of the latter, how will you ensure they actually set foot into theatres once they are reopened? To be frank, no, I don't really think anyone will become a theatre newcom- er just because they watched a theatre show online or on TV. I think that's wishful thinking and I don't think it's how theatre works. If you were to ask a random sampling of people to cite the last film they watched together at home, they may stare blankly at you for a while before possibly coming up with an answer. But they will tend to remem- ber the time they went to the theatre all together, as a family. If the show is memorable, it is there, at the theatre, that the audience is re- cruited. I think this is more a question of accessibility than audience targeting. What I do think is that audiences can recognise the greater meaning of live art, and this generation will appreciate it more. Much like the generation that lived through the war appreciated ac- cess to food more than their children, so will this generation appreciate live arts more. Those people ate more and better af- ter the war, because they could, and they never again took it for granted. It was also healthier food, because peo- ple were used to rationing and so they then chose what to eat wisely. I think people will choose how to spend their time more wisely after this pandemic, and the arts can be a big part of that sit- uation. Going by this, I like to think that with the right programming, we should aim for higher numbers. What kind of overall impact do you feel that the epidemic will have on Malta-based theatre makers that Teatru Malta is at least on paper pledged to support? Do you think that ad hoc measures such as the ones you're proposing are the way to go, or do you hope a more centralised and sustained infrastructure would be set into place should the virus drag on for longer than we're hoping? It is fantastic news that professional artists across the board are being treat- ed as self-employed citizens and can get subsidies applicable to other major sectors like tourism and catering. I have never been one to fancy an economical analysis of the arts, mostly because of the risks of excessive commercialisa- tion. However, one cannot ignore that the useful data, statistics and that the status of the artist have been raised through that approach. We cannot hold all the aces though. That means that there is a centralised infrastructure which is treating artists and creatives on a par HAX-XJUH: Il-Pantomima 60+. Teatru Malta, December 2019. Photo by Elisa von Brockdorff