Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1268420
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 12 JULY 2020 5 THIS WEEK THEATRE Chris Gatt deserves The main thing to be taken on board is that we are probably the most vulnerable sector in society. Many of us have seen their income reduced to zero, where many others have continued to make ends meet by working from home and so on. Luck- ily, we were given a lifeline through the government's fur- lough scheme. The main fear right now, however, is that all that will inevitably come to end before we can return to work in a structured and sustainable way. And then of course, once we do return to work, we usu- ally have to wait at least two months to get paid as the in- come is tallied up and passed down the chain of command. At this point, we are going to need the real support of gov- ernment institutions, especial- ly those who hold the keys to performing spaces. They need to understand that most of us freelancers, and especially producers, have taken a major hit and we cannot go back to working and creating perfor- mances, especially with cur- rent restrictions in the number of seats and so on, with the full support of these institutions. On the other hand, these same performers have been extremely generous with their talent, entertaining their audi- ences and probably more than their usual audiences, via digi- tal media. The numbers were surprisingly high. So that poses the intrigu- ing question: post-COVID, is there enough of an audience, and more importantly, enough of a paying audience, to sup- port and back up the digital audience? Obviously, nothing can be as much fun as the real thing, that of being in a theatre and sharing a live performance with other audience members. But there may be those who are unable or unwilling to at- tend live performances in the wake of the pandemic – for any number of reasons – and then there may be others who are just itching to relive the expe- rience. Just how large is that latter category? This is certain- ly worth considering. It certainly highlighted the importance of creating a visual and aural archive of perfor- mances especially in the gov- ernment-owned entities What's next for you? Well, the main problem is that it's really a case of what's next for Malta. If all goes well I pick up some abandoned piec- es such as finally staging Sis- ter Act in March. But I am also working on a really wonderful Eduardo de Filippo play, Napo- li Milionaria!, for MADC and Teatru Manoel for April 2021, and a new work with Theatre Anon and produced by Teatru Malta (again postponed from this year) for July 2021. Prior to that, there are a couple projects which may or may not see the light of day so I'd rather not re- veal those for now. Comedy of Errors: Shake- speare in the Garden will be staged at Villa Bologna, At- tard on July 16, 17, 18 and 19 at 20:30. Bookings: what- s t h e i r n a m e s . t h e a t r e @ g m a i l . com, 7905 2522. The produc- tion will be fully compliant with government regulations on outdoor theatres. Audience members will be seated at ta- bles of no more than six, with at least two metres in between tables. Temperature checks will be taken at the door and phys- ical distancing will be enforced Double take: Joseph Zammit (left) and James Ryder follow through with the WhatsTheirNames tradition of taking on multiple roles Sandie Von Brockdorff and Gianni Selvaggi PHOTOGRAPHY BY JACOB SAMMUT