Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/767061
maltatoday, SATURDAY, 24 DECEMBER 2016 29 This Week Toni Sant Artistic Director at Spazju Kreattiv; Founder of Malta Media Memory Preservation "Maltese work in English can never be authentic" Evolution is inevitable. Some years the changes are more evident than others. Most times it seems like things are changing for the better, other times not so much so. It's all relative really... or at least that's how it is from my perspective. I am greatly heartened by the high quality of Maltese-language work presented in both the theatre and the music scene. However, this is undoubtedly overshadowed by the ever-present amount of output that is merely second-rate English-language material that can never really be considered as authentic as high quality work in Maltese, even if it is still rather interesting in its own right particularly from a post- colonial perspective. I am quite keen to see key stakeholders sign on to the further development of the National Archive's Memorja: Oral, Sound and Visual Archive. I have a long-standing interest in this area, as is clearly evident from my recently published book Remembering Rediffusion in Malta. I hope to bring essential elements from that work to a number of projects in Malta, particularly the Spazju Kreattiv programme for 2017/18 leading into Valletta 2018 as Euro- pean Capital of Culture. Photo: Ray Attard Kenneth Zammit Tabona Artistic Director: Manoel Theatre, Malta International Baroque Festival "The Manoel needs to put drama on a par with music" 2016 has been a curious year. I am known for my impatience, and yes, there's still plenty of room for improvement. However, we have managed to reach an operatic turning point with Gluck's Orphee this year. I feel that we have managed to rekindle the public's curiosity in opera other than the usual fare and opened up a new vista where at the Manoel we will only produce opera that is com- mensurate with the size, style and ambience of our 1731 theatre. The Baroque Festival still is a stalwart in our calendar, however the most important development from the festival is the building of the Valletta International Baroque Ensemble, which is gaining plenty of experience and is on the way to becoming the Theatre's established ensemble with ballet and operatic potential. My only disappointment is that I yet do not have the wherewithal to place drama at par with music. With the establishment of Teatru Malta I am convinced that there will be a more comprehensive and fruitful cooperation which will engender the production of classics along with new exciting works for theatre. Photo: Ray Attard Pia Zammit Actress "All in all, there was much to celebrate" It's Christmas so let's keep it light, shall we? We had the usual highs and lows, but the biggest high was to see so many local lads and lassies making it big time. It is now no longer unusual to hear of actors and singers taking part in a West End musical, and the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra and Zfin Malta are waving Malta's flag abroad more and more frequently. But there was also good news in the world of the plastic arts (Venice Biennale), literature (Immanuel Mifsud and more), and film (Simshar and Head keep bringing in the awards!). It was also good to see young talent continue to be nurtured. The work of companies such as Teatru Manoel Youth Theatre and Teatru Manoel Youth Opera companies cannot be underestimated. But they are not alone. There were a number of green shoots sprouting all over the island. The music scene is looking particularly healthy what with Brikkuni continuing to live up to their name, keeping good ol' rock n roll thankfully on the wrong side of good manners while the gentler sound of The New Victorians provides a more folksy take on pop music. I also noticed that Malta's very own Comic Con is getting stronger by the year. So all in all, there was much to celebrate. And finally, another thing, because I almost forgot, there was that little matter of a resignation, but perhaps we should leave that for another time. Marcelle Teuma Theatre director "Artists should receive a yearly allowance to travel" It is more than about time to have a new building purposely built to host theatre performances, equipped with state of the art technology and which allows time for theatre practitioners to rehearse and perform in this space. Artists should also receive a yearly allowance to be used for travel. This is because it is imperative for artists to witness what is happening in the arts abroad: be it theatre, dance, music, art, literature and so on. Photo: Virginia Monteforte (Marcelle Teuma on the far right) Monique Chambers Editor of Indulge Magazine, broadcaster "I hope to see more books and broadcasting in English" Malta continues to grow culturally with more and more theatre performances, more art related events and more variety when it comes to radio and publishing. I hope to see more English books being produced locally and also radio programmes; for example, Malta's popula- tion is so diverse now that having local radio news only in Maltese is pretty short sighted, also by listening to more radio or watching more TV in English would help the standard of English amongst the population enabling it to remain competitive in the global market. Publishers and producers are missing a huge portion of the com- munity that makes Malta such a great place to live. Longer or better coordinated theatre runs to make sure you don't have to binge on theatre or one weekend and have a drought for two… and earlier performances would make going to the theatre an evening out and give punters a chance to have a meal in more then a handful of restaurants that currently offer post theatre dinner. I also would like to see more workshops for budding artists in whichever field - or at least have these better promoted so as to entice novices to be part of the performance community. Who knows who's hiding in the wings? Simone Spiteri Playwright, actress, theatre director "Theatre should be sharp, multi-layered, discomfiting and honest" Most of this year was a bit different for me because I took a self-imposed still-in-progress sabbatical from theatre and basically detached myself from the active scene for a while. I focused entirely on writing, which in itself is a very isolating process, and allowed my work to find its own feet with the people who produced it and myself to experience this world from the periphery, for once. I don't think that theatre work stood out in any particular way this year as opposed to other art forms which seemed to have blossomed more prominently throughout 2016. What I would like to see more of? I think the local theatre scene is missing a strong independent streak of companies, which was very strongly felt when I started out almost 20 years ago, but it seems to have fizzled out a bit in recent years. It was an exciting time, teeming with many new and vibrant companies and there was a sense of buzz, practice-sharing and experimentation. Despite a few (or many) missteps I think it served as a great learning ground for most of us, still starting out, and was a springboard to a lot of things that most of us went on to do later on as established companies, producers, directors, playwrights, artists and so on. It's important that the state looks for ways to nurture and expand the profession and the scene, but a fringe element is always extremely important. The raw underbelly of any art form is where I truly believe real growth happens and often one feeds off the other. There a few youngsters who are, very admirably, trying to make their own way and propose new voices within this frame, but these are just a few, which is a shame. I also would like to see more writing for the stage that is sharp, rich, multi-layered, discomforting if need be and above all honest.