Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/441179
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 4 JANUARY 2015 15 Malta in 2015 "There are many exciting things going on at the moment. St James Cavalier has a new ar- tistic director [Toni Sant] and I await to see what his vision will offer us. So far there is nothing new: St James Cavalier continues to build on the solid foundations former Artistic Director Chris Gatt created… which is a good thing. Good things and good ideas should be nurtured. But I think that the new artistic di- rector will want to leave his own mark on the centre…" He admits, however, that he has so far been disappointed by the events leading to Valletta's coronation as Capital of Culture in 2018. "So far, the V18 thing has done very little where the arts are concerned. The greatest in- sult was to place funds intended for the arts to stage a UEFA Football Tournament. It showed that the people behind Valletta 2018 had no vi- sion or understanding of the arts. Now there is a new Artistic Director. Hopefully he will turn things around. But reports that he at- tacked Islam and immigration on Facebook were definitely not a good start. One would have expected him to be sacked, no matter how capable he is. Certain comments are just not acceptable. But he was offered a reprieve. Let's hope he makes the best of the situation. Mario Philip Azzopardi productions attract crowds to the theatre so hopefully his choice will serve as a boost for the local theatre scene..." As for the theatre scene in 2015, Buckle's guess is as good as anyone else's. "I really don't know what to expect. The last couple of years have seen the abolition of theatre censorship in Malta, which was a good move. However, Blasphemy Laws and Obscen- ity Laws remain in force and it only takes one conservative hypocrite to torment an artist on these lines. I would hope that 2015 sees the arts being declared unaffected by these medieval laws, so that the artists can express themselves fully. This does not mean that artists will sud- denly start engaging in pornography, as the more conservative supporters of these laws might argue. It would simply mean that the artist can explore certain fields without fear of being prosecuted." His own company Unifaun will however be busier than usual in the next 12 months. "2015 will be a very interesting year for my company, Unifaun. In March, I accept a chal- lenge laid down to me ever since I started pro- ducing: to stage a Harold Pinter play. The play in question is Old Times. In October 2015, we will challenge Maltese audiences on a very sen- sitive subject. In fact we will be tackling abor- tion. The play we will be staging is called Keely & Du, written by Jane Martin. It will be direct- ed by American director Dave Barton, who in the past directed Sarah Kane's Blasted for me." Adrian Buckle expects the production to be controversial, even if the play itself does not take up any position on the issue. "Keely & Du is neither pro-life nor pro-choice, but it does challenge both views enough to make the audience rethink their own positions. We are also trying to organize discussions after the shows. Should be an interesting project…" It will all happen on Facebook… But whatever controversies 2015 will throw at us, one thing is (almost) certain: the social media are likely to be as much of a catalyst for events this year as they were in 2014. Blogger Josanne Cassar reminds us that many of the trends of the past year were either initi- ated or transmitted through websites such as Facebook: a trend that is likely to evolve further in the near future. "I think online social commentary, especially via Facebook and the comments section of news portals, will continue to be a major player in 2015. The mainstream media is no longer in the grip of a few key 'movers and shakers': now, anyone with a keyboard is potentially an opin- ion columnist." While the sphere of social media has broad- ened in recent years, Cassar predicts that Fa- cebook will remain the most influential "go to" source for all kinds of information. "To date, noth- ing else seems to have effectively in- filtrated the sheer numbers in Malta which Facebook has. While valiant attempts were made to galvanize Twitter into the same kind of popularity, it has just not caught on here… probably be- cause not that many people are able to express them- selves succinctly in 140 characters or fewer. Twitter also requires you to have 'followers' and for you to 'fol- low' others, which just seems to be too much of a bother." She points out that Facebook has already changed the way we com- municate, how we contact (and gossip about) people, how businesses market their products, how events are promoted, how we network and how we obtain our news. "Judging from the online activity first thing in the morning, Facebook is also the first thing many people turn to the minute they open their eyes to share everything from their break- fast, to their mood to the weather to traffic conditions." This may have even affected the way people conduct their daily lives. "Where a few years ago most people would have been reluctant to disclose their politics, I have noticed a shift in this respect, leading people to 'connect' when they discover acquaintances who share their views (or, more drastically, to disconnect with friends whose views they don't share)." The shorthand of social media has even changed the way we speak: "Selfies, the ice bucket challenge, going viral, sharing statuses, videos and photos, adding 'friends' and, of course, clicking 'like'. These phrases and ex- pressions would have sounded like Greek to all of us pre-2007, but these days even people in their 70s and 80s understand this new "lan- guage". Glancing back at 2014, Josanne Cassar rea- sons that our perceptions of many of the events of the year may have been more influenced by social media than we realise. "As we have seen from recent political events in which the Prime Minister was forced to dis- miss (Home Affairs Minister) Manuel Mallia, I think it was the social media, more than any other medium, which helped to shape and crys- tallize public opinion. There was a lot of fierce- ly heated, yet democratically healthy debates across the political spectrum, especially be- cause of the unique ability of Facebook to share news stories from online portals, YouTube and blogs, drawing people's attention by 'tagging' them, and inviting them into discussions they would otherwise not be aware of…" Projected into the future, Cassar sees this as a trend on the upswing… even if it comes com- plete with its own risks. Among the more curi- ous news items of the year was a story about how 'naked selfies' of Maltese girls ended up on a public file-sharing website: laying bare the potential dangers of exposing too much of one's private life on the worldwide web. "Of course, there are those who will still (un- derstandably) prefer to use Facebook simply to interact with their immediate, restricted social circle of friends and family, where everyone shares the same opinion. Averse to the intru- sive nature of the medium, more people are un- derstanding the wisdom of locking down their timeline and photos with privacy settings…" This is unlikely to rob Facebook of its perva- sive influence on Maltese social life. "As a communications tool which allows for the creation and exchange of user-generated content, I think it will continue to be indispen- sable in the fields of politics, marketing and so- cial commentary… as a means to gauge public opinion on any given issue, or even for some- thing as innocuous as finding old friends and new ones who share your likes and dislikes." tomorrow… There is still work to be done to achieve a balance representation of women Renee Laiviera, Equality Commissioner More people are understanding the wisdom of locking down their timeline and photos with privacy settings Josanne Cassar, columnist I hope 2015 sees the arts being declared unaffected by these medieval laws, so that the artists can express themselves fully Adrian Buckle, Unifaun Theatre