This Week 23/06/2002

What a week!

Coryse Borg, who has one of the leads in the upcoming production As You Like It, tells Ramona Depares about her love for the stage

When I was really little I used to sing at family parties. Kisses for Me was my party piece, I still remember it. One of my relatives caught me on video, which is quite embarrassing actually… The funny thing is that I was rather quiet as a kid, shy even. Then at fourteen years of age I joined MTADA, started a drama course and slowly came out of my shell. I enjoyed it so much! And the best thing was that we got to do all kinds of drama, from Greek to Shakespearean and contemporary. As soon as I graduated I joined MADC and I’ve been with them ever since, more or less!

I’m lucky because I’ve had a rather varied stage career. I’ve been in Pantos, both in the choir and the solo. I still remember fondly the part of Mable on the Table, the chicken in Jack and the Beanstalk. It was rather hilarious. Then for my next play I did Oscar Wilde’s An Ideal Husband, where I was yet another Mable. With a very different character, of course. Most of my roles have been in English plays, but I’ve also done some Maltese work with Talenti, of which I am very proud. Strangely enough, it was my fiance` (who’s English) who helped me with the lines.

Memorising the lines is always a task, naturally. Everyone has a different method: some people read, others hear tapes, others study by heart. I happen to believe in the power of repetition, which means that the more I rehearse the sooner I’ll get my lines right. But I believe that I have a photographic memory: I can actually visualise the lines and which part of the page they are on. It does get in handy…

But no matter how much of a photographic memory actors possess, the occasional muck-up is inevitable. It happens to the best of us: I remember one particular occasion during Panto where I just froze. Fortunately the other part ad libbed perfectly. Of course, improvising Shakespeare takes much more effort but this is what I actually had to do in one particular production. The worst thing is if you just don’t say anything, but I’ve never had that problem. It’s actually a lot worse if it’s the other part who forgets their lines, you can feel their agony yourself.

Which is also why I don’t attend local theatre productions, unless I’m in them, as often as I should. More often than not I will know all the actors personally and the tension I go through is even more intense than if I was on stage. I’ll be thinking to myself: I hope they all know their lines, I hope they’re not sick, I hope nothing bad happens… Talk about imagining all worst case scenarios! Is it any wonder that I end up suffering more than enjoying myself? It is rather bad of me, but I actually enjoy foreign productions more than local ones: at least I can relax and not care about whether they’re having last minute hitches on stage.

My favourite role was that of Maria, in Westside Story. I got that part quite by chance, after someone dropped out of the main part three weeks before the first performance. When I was offered the chance to substitute her I refused at first: it’s my favourite musical and I knew that the singing is particularly taxing in high soprano. But I also knew that it was my kind of role, sort of cute etc… So eventually I was persuaded to attend rehearsals at least once and give it a go. Now I have to say this: I’m really bad at accents normally. I can only do an upper class British one, mainly because I have British blood in me. But I can’t do American to save my life. So imagine my surprise when I tried to do the Puerto Rican accent and it came out a dream! So I decided to go for it and started voice training. And of course, as soon as I got into the part I developed bronchitis and tonsillitis on top of it. I missed all rehearsals and on the first night my heart was in mouth. Luckily, it was indeed a case of ‘it’ll be all right on the night’. And I also managed to cry on cue for the first time, a feat of which I was quite proud.

The theatre is lovely because you get to meet many different people. I’ve also done a bit of movies. If you don’t blink your eyes you can actually see me in Gladiator. I was what they called a "special extra", that is I wasn’t just part of the ordinary crowd but had a real part. Which meant special rights over the others, jumping the queue at meal times… it was rather fun. I even got to meet Russel Crowe in the flesh. I think I said something very clever, such as "Well done for L.A. Confidential". He gave me the impression that he was quite a womaniser, but I guess that’s no secret. I also met one of Schwarzenegger’s body-guards, all bulging biceps, which was quite a sight. It was all very exciting, with lions, tigers, elephants and hyenas on set – all in cages, may I add, but still exciting. It was great fun doing Gladiator, though I must say that driving to Kalkara at four in the morning was not great. But it was on the set of Revelations, which unfortunately isn’t yet out in Europe, that I got the real VIP treatment. I mean: my own trailer, make-up artist and hairstylist! I tell you I almost died laughing. Not that I didn’t enjoy it…

In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a big cinema buff. I love movies and could happily live at the cinema. More often than not I go to see films with my mother: neither my dad nor my fiance` like our sort of movies, so it’s definitely easier to count them out. Lately I’ve enjoyed watching Moulin Rouge and Amelie. Moulin Rouge is just incredible and as for Amelie, I’m surprised it didn’t get the Oscar for best foreign movie!

But feet back on ground! I’m rather excited about the upcoming Shakespeare production. I haven’t done any Shakespeare in a way and As You Like It happens to be one of my favourites. Whenever I read Shakespeare I cannot stop myself being surprised at the man’s with. I’ll have read a particular line a dozen times and the full meaning will only hit me suddenly. But my very favourite remains Romeo and Juliet, sad but true! More than a novel, it’s poetry – which really you can say of all of Shakespeare’s works.

The text we’re using for the upcoming production is slightly modernised. Joe Friggieri is directing, which means that whenever we’re stuck and the footnotes don’t explain it all, we turn towards him for explanations! But we do help each other out a lot, thank goodness. I’m playing Celia, Rosalind’s cousin, in a plot full of twists and turns a` la Shakespeare. The ideal summer play, in fact.