Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1450614
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 13 FEBRUARY 2022 9 THEATRE Neurologist's famous case studies hold the stage at Teatru Manoel TEATRU Manoel is setting the stage for Ir-Raġel li Ħawwad lil Martu ma' Kappell – the first ever Maltese adaptation of Dr Oliver Sacks' The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales. The seminal 1985 study, au- thored by the world-renowned neurologist, is adapted, trans- lated and directed by film and theatre veteran Mario Philip Azzopardi – and finally intro- duced to the local stage in a pioneering theatrical perfor- mance. The play follows a series of clinical case studies detailing the unusual neurological con- ditions exhibited in Sacks' own patients. This includes visual agnosia, which gives the play its title and describes a peculiar condition whereby patients are unable to recognise and distin- guish between faces and ob- jects. The multiple characters that make up this fascinating study are taken on by no more than four actors – a feat that the expert and experienced cast is certain to pull off. Ris- ing to the challenge are Mikhail Basmadjian, Ray Calleja, Vince Micallef Pulè and Charles Sam- mut. A versatile performance awaits, as each actor plays a number of characters, doubling as doctor and patient across several clinical interviews. The originality of this pro- duction very much mirrors its extraordinary theme and the patients' curious conditions, while proving to be a novel ex- perience for all the actors. One of the greatest challenges they faced was understanding the unique nature of the patients' conditions, and this called for a good deal of research on their part. "I felt I had entered anoth- er dimension, which made me think deeply about the existen- tial question of what makes us human beings with a reason- ing mind," Vince Micallef Pulè muses. He speaks of the great pressure to interpert the char- acters sincerely and authenti- cally – "to express their con- fusion, fear and vulnerability, as well as their strength and determination to fight their conditions or to adapt to their strange reality." Ray Calleja shares an initial hurdle he had to overcome: "Given the play's intense sin- cerity, it took a while to come to terms with the patients' con- ditions. The insight into their plight and struggles is extreme and, at moments, overwhelm- ing." In the end, Ray allowed the characters to overtake his own personal traits so that they could come to life. Mikhail Basmadjian's ap- proach to tackling the patients' different realities involved digging deep to uncover some common ground in the wider human experience. "I tried to identify with the underlying emotion the patient would have felt at the time of the interview. I had to search for that emo- tion because, very often, their words and actions do not cor- respond to an emotional ste- reotype. Moreover, the script does not reveal their back- grounds, traumas, or whether they are even conscious of their own conditions. This makes it difficult to bring a character to life from absolute zero, based on just a few lines." For Charles Sammut, sensi- tivity was a crucial part of his interpretation. "The poignant balance between the tragic and the comic visible in these scenes is an important consid- eration for the performer. One cannot lose sight of the respect due to the characters' digni- ty, even though the situation might verge on the farcical." Nevertheless, Mikhail believes that humour helps, and en- courages audiences not to re- frain from laughter in the face of the show's sometimes hilari- ous elements. Charles hopes that "audiences will empathise better with the vulnerability of such unusual situations." At the very least, the performance is bound to inform viewers and pique their interest in a captivating yet ac- cessible peak into the human brain. Ir-Ragel li Hawwad lil Mar- tu ma' Kappell runs at Teatru Manoel on Friday 18 February at 8pm, Saturday 19 February at 8pm, and Sunday 20 Febru- ary at 3pm and 7pm. Tickets are priced at €20 and are avail- able via email to bookings.mt@ teatrumanoel.mt, by telephone to (+356) 21246389 or online at www.teatrumanoel.mt. This event adheres to all current COVID-19 guidelines.