Why Theatre In Malta Is Still Relevant And Necessary Despite Rise Of Netflix Culture
Theatre explores a range of human emotion and creates an immersing experience like no other art form… it strives to push boundaries, educate, mirror and inspire society.
Today’s Netflix culture has taken over the entertainment industry, with many preferring to sit at home and binge-watch all their favorite shows and movies. However, it can never replace theatre.
The art form has formed part of human society for millennia, it has faced all sorts of adversity, and yet it has survived. Why?
Evidently, as long as humanity still exists, theatre will live on – we are a story-telling species and theatre is a viable extension of that.
Since the beginning of time, people would sit around a fire and tell stories – add a couple of costumes, lights, music, and a platform and it becomes a performance.
Although the stage-craft has faced great challenges including the much recent challenges that COVID-19 brought with it, theatre still continued to flourish – with many companies both locally and abroad adapting to an online space and finding innovative ways for actors and directors to create.
As a Theatre Student at the University of Malta and an actor myself, I’ve experienced this challenge first-hand but I’ve also consequently experienced this adaptability that theatre tends to have.
I would argue that local theatre is thriving now more than ever.
A professor at the University of Malta, Frank Camilleri, stated that Theatre has tremendously grown and flourished in the past few decades.
”When I started out in the 1990s, there was very much a group culture, that is, you formed a group and worked with the same people for a number of years. Years, not weeks or months.”
“You made do with what you had, which was often very little in terms of funding. When Malta joined the EU, and funding started becoming more accessible, there was a marked shift towards a project-based culture aimed at acquiring grants through different configurations of artists, rather than having a more or less stable group of actors.
“Production values have most definitely improved, often very professionally packaged when it comes to the finished gloss of productions. This is a good thing. However, there is something to said about the depth in technique and vision that regular sessions with a group tend to generate,” the professor told Lovin Malta.
Camilleri has been involved in theatre since 1989 and has studied and done many forms of theatre locally and overseas – which include physical theatre, mime, acrobatics, martial arts and dance.
”Eventually I set up my own group in 2001, Icarus Performance Project, which was particularly active until 2008 before I relocated to the UK for five years, where I continued the Icarus work within university structures. The last ten years have been characterised by a deepening of interest in performer training, writing books and producing short films about the topic with international publishers as well as teaching University of Malta students.”
As an academic, Camilleri reiterated that learning about the history of the theatre is essential if you want to keep yourself from repeating techniques or approaches that would have already been done decades ago.
Asked for his thoughts on the new generation emerging in the industry, he answered that theatre is so ever-evolving that it is no longer ‘a niche career path’ and can open an individual up to many opportunities.
Theatre is a shared experience between audience and performers – this unique intimacy is valuable and cannot be experienced when watching movies or tv shows.
It is living art – unlike film which would have been prepared from months before, theatre is created right in front of an audience.
The ability for theatre to adapt is rooted in its unavoidable need to please that audience – essentially to stay relevant.
As a performer, theatre has given me a platform to express my creativity. It has also empowered me to express myself and has rooted me with self-confidence and self-knowledge.
It helped me to experience different perspectives from my own, therefore, making me more empathetic because as an actor you are literally required to put yourself in someone else’s shoes.
If you or your children want to get involved in theatre, there are many companies in Malta which offer actor-training programs, workshops, or auditions: Masquerade Malta, Stagecoach, Studio 18, School Of Performing Arts, Teatru Salesjan and many more.
Tag your theatre-loving friends or someone who’d be interested in starting a career in it.
READ NEXT: Do Local Artists Attract Maltese Listeners As Much As Foreign Ones? Spotify Data Doesn't Suggest So
