Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1479276
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 18 SEPTEMBER 2022 10 ALMANAC My essentials LUKE SAYDON 28, Theatre Maker Luke is a Maltese writer-composer based in the UK and Malta working with organisations including The Old Vic, V&A Museum, Les Enfants Terribles, Museum of London and the British Library. He has recently launched Saydon Studio, composed the award-winning musical HUSH and is currently producing it- Teatru tal-Miskin, a new queer musical coming to Gozo and Malta this September. It-Teatru tal-Miskin will see its premiere in Gozo at Teatru Aurora's new Black Box Theatre on the 23-25 September and then at Spazju Kreattiv the following weekend from the 30 September to 2 October. It-Teatru tal-Miskin is about a boy who wore heels. Who desired an authentic and different way to express himself when compared to the society he belonged to. 1 4 5 1. Book 2. Film/TV 3. Internet 4. Music 5. Place THE Ru Paul's Drag Race Franchise - I know. I'm as shocked as you are. My first choice of TV would be any series by Russel T. Davies (genius writer), but if we're talking essentials... I think that Drag Race might win the title. It's a drag queen competition. It's dramatic, it's fierce and a big mover for queer culture today. When- ever I cook, there is an epi- sode of Drag Race accompa- nying me. When life gets too tough, Drag Race will sashay the problems away. CABARET Original Broadway Cast Recording by Kander & Ebb – tough question this one. Because it's like choosing my favourite child. The definite essential is musical theatre (I am very rarely caught listening to anything but that). If I had to choose right now, it would probably be Kander and Ebb's Cabaret musical. A hugely po- litical piece that drives its au- dience (so cleverly) from being entertained to being disturbed by the state of our world. How can art do that? Really chal- lenge? I think it's one of the wittiest and well-crafted musi- cals out there. MY favourite place in the world is a theatre, at the mo- ment when a show is about to start. Whether I'm in the audience, musical directing in an orchestra pit or waiting backstage in the wings. I think it's an unparalleled feeling of joy and nervousness and sus- pense. If I had to wish for one essential state of being for the rest of my life, it would be at that place at that time. KOLLOX jeħel magħna by Francesco Grech – it has to be one of the bravest things I've read lately. It is a collec- tion of impeccable poems that are equally heart-breaking as they are heart-warming. They follow journey of a gay man growing up in our coun- try. With a vocabulary that is so fresh and current, I think it manages to hit such a raw nerve with any queer person of my generation. It has a vul- nerability that is unfiltered an it has inspired me a lot. 'EL Baile De Los 41' by David Pablos – it's a true story from 1901, Mexico. A group of 41 men were arrested for hosting an unlawful "dance", like an illegal gay club – a big scan- dal where homosexuality was first mentioned in the media. The movie is a work of geni- us because I think it gives an excellent insight to the strug- gles that go on inside a closet- ed man's brain. It's a reminder that LGBTQI+ people in some countries still can't dance to- gether. That's why this movie is essential to me. 3 2