Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/294639
29 maltatoday, SUNDAY, 13 APRIL 2014 SUMPTUOUS SEYCHELLES PG 38 PATIENT PHILOMENA PG 34 BEAUTIFUL BASIL PG 36, 37 Shakespere re-tooled on trip from Yorkshire to Malta Simone Ellul set up Curtain Call Productions in 2006 and success- fully produced Boston Marriage at St James Cavalier. "When we first started work- ing on the project I immediately thought of St James as a venue, since its intimate atmosphere and in-the-round layout make it per- fect for this kind of theatre. It is also very reminiscent of Eliza- bethan theatres as acting spaces, and therefore is ideal for a Shake- speare play, especially one that is in close contact with the audience throughout. I had long discus- sions with [former St James Cava- lier General Manager] Chris Gatt about the project and what we wanted to offer audiences, and was delighted to be given the go-ahead to use the space. "Reactions from our audiences so far have shown us that we have succeeded in doing so, and our re- cent teenage audience found the play funny and gripping, which was certainly very satisf ying. In order to achieve this we have used a number of devices," Ellul said. The play will be framed within a storytelling device. Sea Dogs, or sailors, are used to entertain and engage the audience in the story, and as a tool to reinforce the action of the play, allowing the audience to follow the narrative and under- stand the actions and feelings of the characters. "After our performances in South Yorkshire, we asked audience mem- bers to comment on the balance between the Shakespeare sections and the parts involving the sail- ors and the response we received was very positive. The framework device also gave us the freedom to play with and edit the text; it's not Twelfth Night, but the Illyrian Shipwreck. Shakespeare in later years uses the inspiration of this story to create Twelfth Night." The inclusion of William Shake- speare gave the production the opportunity to reveal and explore the story. Shakespeare is told the tale of the Illyrian shipwreck; as the plot is revealed to Shakespeare so it is revealed to the audience. Shakespeare's role, however, goes beyond the voyeur, as he, encour- aged by the sailors, joins in the telling of the tale. In addition, this is the first time that shadow theatre has been used in Griffin Theatre Arts' and Cur- tain Call Productions' work, and what can be seen during the per- formance came about as a result of skills-sharing between the inter- national artists. "Shadow theatre has a magical element to it that can entrance an audience; we used it to support the storytelling through physical images. We hope that this assists younger and new audiences or those unfamiliar with the story, to follow the action of the play and to differentiate between the charac- ters," Ellul said. Speaking about the particular characters that make up the play, Ellul said that as actors, they "en- joyed the challenge of playing multiple characters in a fast-paced and fun production. However, we thought it was very important to ensure that each of the charac- ters had a clear physical and vo- cal characterisation (as mentioned above, these were supported by the shadow theatre puppets of each of the characters). "These characterisations are sup- ported by a piece of symbolic cos- tume worn by the sailors whenever they are playing a character from Shakespeare's play, but to know more, you'll have to come and watch the show..." The event is supported by the Malta Arts Fund. Tickets are avail- able from www.sjcav.org, or by call- ing 21 223200 40 years of art from Norbert Francis Attard INTERNATIONALLY established artist Norbert Francis Attard will be holding a retrospective exhibition at his studio Gozo Contemporary in Gharb, Gozo. The exhi- bition will be showing a selection of works from – principally – three distinct phases in his art practice which covers 40 years of work. He will be showing limited edition prints he produced in the 70s and 80s; ab- stract works on canvas and paper created in the late 80s until 1996; and documentation of his current 'Installation Art' phase start- ing from 1998. He will also show a selec- tion of his current photography and objects. Apart from his art, his publications, exhibi- tion catalogues and several other items will be on sale during the exhibition. Gozo Contemporary is located at 11, Mon- gur Street, Gharb, Gozo. The retrospective will be opened on April 19 and remain on display until April 30. Doors open: 11:00 to 19:00 Norbert Francis Attard Norbert Francis Attard was born in Malta in 1951. He lives and works on the island of Gozo (Malta), and since 2010 in Berlin (Germa- ny). Trained as an architect, Attard now focuses on a contemporary art practice that incorpo- rates architecture, sculpture, photography, video and installation, to explore his major interests in places and their memories. Represented Malta in the 48th Venice Bi- ennale in 1999. He has exhibited internationally: Fjellerup I Bund & Grund, Denmark (2013), Manifes- ta 9 Parallel Events, Genk, Belgium (2012); Beaufort 04, De Panne, Belgium (2012); Me- ridian/Urban Project, Berlin, Germany (2011); Galeria Nuble, Santander, Spain (2011); OST- RALE 011, Dresden, Germany; I-Park, Con- netticut, USA (2011); 5th Biennial VentoSul, Curitiba, Brazil (2009); 25th Alexandria Bien- nial, Egypt (2009); CUBE OPEN, Manchester, UK (2009); 2nd Bienal de Canarias, Canary Is- lands (2009); INHABIT 09, Brisbane, Australia (2009); Turner Contemporary, Margate, UK. (2008); Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland (2008); INTRUDE 366, Zendai Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China (2008); 3rd Echigo Tsumari Triennale, Japan, (2006); Ka- ohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan (2005); Casoria Museum of Contemporary Art, Naples, Italy (2005); ARTIADE, Athens, Greece (2004); 8th Havana Biennale, Cuba, (2003); Macedonia Museum of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki, Greece (2003); 2nd Liverpool Biennale (2002); Edinburgh International Festival, Scotland (2002); FLOATING LAND, Noosa, Australia (2001); DIASPORA, Oviedo, Spain (1998), amongst many others. He attended several residency programs: Else- where Collaborative, Greensboro, North Caro- lina, (2011); Virginia Centre for the Creative Arts (VCCA), U.S.A., (2010); Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA), Dublin, Ireland., (2008); Turner Contemporary (in collaboration with Oxford Modern, UK), Margate, UK., (2007); Europos Parkus, Vilnius, Lithuania, (2006); Tai- pei Artists Village, Taipei, Taiwan, (2005); and (KAIR) Kamiyama, Japan, 2004. He has been a director of Gozo Contemporary – an art space offering self-directed residencies to local and international artists on the island of Gozo – since 2001. He is also currently a Board Member of Piazza Teatru Rjal since May 2013. For more information log on to www.norbertattard.com