Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1424528
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 31 OCTOBER 2021 4 THEATRE What was the inspiration behind choosing to centre the performance around Oliver Friggieri's work? All the entities involved, whether commissioning, pro- ducing or supporting this pro- ject, agreed to produce a work commemorating Prof Friggieri after his death. This collective effort has led us to open our Teatru Malta season with this production in collaboration with Teatru Manoel, who also open their season with O. It has been an honour and a privilege for me to work on this project. What was the decision behind picking dance and spoken word to tell the story? This is not really a story. I would say work is more of a post-dramatic piece. It is the effort of a collective of artists who let themselves be inspired by the magical words of Oliver Friggieri. I wanted to tackle Oliver's work in ways that are poten- tially familiar to his latest stu- dents, but also to new students; ones which unfortunately will never be his. Nevertheless, it is also interesting for his admir- ers to see his work brought to life in fresher ways. The decision, however, was not choosing dance and spo- ken word - but choosing Chery Lofreda to choreograph and her MVMT to dance, Jamie Cardona and Claire Tonna, Chris Vella, Andrew Schembri and bloc as the creative team, and Gabriel Lia – a student of Oliver Friggieri, as a research- er. Those are the decisions that made the show, and that tell this nonstory. What was the most challenging aspect of directing O.? Besides creating the visual narrative of the piece, I must say that the most tasking job, was choosing which pieces, which work, which word to use, or not use. Oliver Friggieri has an im- mense, incredible body of work. From poetry to novels, literally criticism to plays, from religious hymns to oratorios and many newspaper articles. We tried to use all facets, and shades of him and his work, but we were especially inspired by his relationship with his stu- dents. Profs Friggieri was not just a lecturer, he was a peda- gogue and life coach to many. And how did you overcome it? By delving in the work; re- searching, creating and re- hearsing as much as possible. This production has been nine months in the works. I do feel this production consumed more of me than usual, because I got lost in so much poetry, words, wisdom and knowledge but it also gave me something back. I don't know what that is yet. As a director, where do you draw your inspiration from? As a storyteller, you draw inspiration from the world around you, from other human beings. The simpicility of Oli- ver's daily life for examply was a huge inspiration for O. As an artist, you also draw inspiration from other art. I'm constantly inspired by the worlds of visual art, dance, digital art, film, vid- eo art, hybrid art, performance art and all sorts of artistic ex- pression which are honest, cre- ative and that resonate with me for one reason or other. The production had to be pushed back due to COVID-19 and the subsequent closure of theatres; how do you feel about the performance finally being shown to the public? The postponement developed the show in ways we did not ex- pect. It is a definitely an added responsibility for the national theatre company to be back with this show at the national theatre venue, after the closure of theatres and such trying times. Let's hope to bring our audiences back and keep find- ing newer ones. Sean Buhagiar on his latest project 'O.', inspired by Oliver Friggieri's work Neil Grech Neil Grech