This Week • 11 May 2003

The third degree with Godwin Azzopardi

Godwin is a graduate from the University of Malta in Legal Studies, where he obtained a degree as a Legal Procurator. Godwin's decisive step in the professional artistic sphere came after placing 3rd runner-up, in a prestigious audition for a ‘Study Abroad’ placement.

Besides obtaining this position from amongst 24 competitors, and obtaining the first place in the original monologue's section (which he has been invited to perform at the Beijing International Arts Festival in July 2003), he was also surprisingly offered an opportunity to sit for another audition covering a 2 year diploma in Performing Arts in any institution in the U.K.

Godwin knew that he couldn't stop there. This set the ball rolling to further opportunities. He is producer of All For One Productions, a group nearly a year old.

Godwin also projects himself outside the group. Personally he has been twice entrusted with the assistant regia of the production of two operas in the Aurora Opera House in Victoria Gozo (Ernani by G. Verdi and Turandot by G. Puccini).

He has also been invited to various theatrical and performance stages abroad gathering experience from renowned producers such as Simonetti (Radio Audiovisione Italiana). Godwin also worked in various European theatres (Messina, Catania, Palermo, Naples and London).

There is no limit to the opportunities. In collaboration with the Regional Government of Campagna (Italy), Godwin was offered the opportunity to stage a production in the city of Naples. Discussions are underway to stage the opera "I Cavalieri di Malta", a grand opera by famous Maltese composer Antonio Nani. If this will take place, Godwin will be the first Maltese regista to produce a Maltese opera overseas.

Although still relatively young, Godwin's personality and motivation have already seen him through unique experiences. In the field of EU programmes he was already assistant leader of a youth exchange programme with the town of Cornwall (UK) and will be leader of a number of forthcoming projects in the coming months. Besides he will also be the head of the leading group for a 2004 ‘Culture 2000’ proposed project involving a number of Mediterranean countries.

This is only the initiation of a long path, which leads him to fulfill his ambitions. On the way we find grand original productions, innovations, political aspirations and the creation of the first Mediterranean Academy of Performing Arts, based in Gozo. Godwin certainly does not aim and aspire for the biggest but for nothing less than the best.Someone hands you Lm10,000. What would you spend it on?

Stuck steadily on the ground; I would invest in a company of young promising artists and tour different countries with our productions (but I think that the amount should be tripled).

If you wanted to impress a lover, what would you do?

They say that I have a kind of fascination. It does not have a hard and fast rule on how its exposed. I’ll put myself in the most diverse of situations to expose it, but not the gigolo kind of behaviour, that's farcical.

What do you want to be remembered for?

My smile. It's my most faithful portrayal.

What’s the worst insult one can throw at you?

'Injurant' (Ignorant)… not the shallow cliche, but if it really comes out from the soul of a person I keep highly.

How would you describe yourself?

A centaur: half horse, half man. Base instinct with feet stuck steadily on the ground; the body of a dreamer, staring at my dreams with an arch aimed further ahead.

Which song or movie best describes your life?

A movie never produced and a song never composed.

Are you a tea or coffee drinker?

Mamma mia these questions! You can't classify people, it’s restrictive. Water.

What’s been the highlight of your life so far?

When I looked at myself in the mirror and finally knew who I'm really dealing with.

How old do you feel?

I'm only 21, I do not think that I can yet fully understand such a word. Moreover... old, wisdom, death, it's restrictive.

What are you like when you are drunk?

I drink until I'm euphoric, and that's a display of fireworks. More is drinking to forget and that's not good.

What’s your best pick-up line?

'Carpe diem'.

Do you consider yourself an introvert or an extrovert?

Extrovert like the shining sun. Introvert like an oyster for defence.

Live long or live fast?

I quote Achille Mizzi (I do not have the poetry book next to me so it might not be so faithful to the original. Sorry Achille)

pompejan, iffosillizzat fl-azzjoni

U mhux warda marida ii tinxef u taqa'

Tell us a recent dream

I dreamt of dying. It was so terribly real. Ghost hands pushing me in the dark void. I screamed but the vocalisation was lost in a vacuum. At the same time my form was becoming weightless, shining bright (a reflection) like opening a treasure chest. I woke up, all of a sudden. It was an intense moment. It took me the whole morning to come to terms with that fraction-of-a-second waking up.

If money were no option, what would you be doing?

Keep doing what I enjoy doing. Happiness is not a matter of money. Money might be like a spice, it can give flavour but it’s not a limit gauge.

What's the most bizarre thing you have ever eaten?

A week ago a friend of mine (Franca) brought with her from Florence, tightly closed in a jar, jealously kept in her hand luggage, 'I mostri' i.e. ‘fermenti lattici vivi' (live lactic fermentation agents). You put these cute little 'monsters' in a bowl: they feed on milk, which they transform into the most delicious fresh natural yoghurt. You squeeze them against a strainer, rinse them under running water and repeat the operation of drowning them in milk, which they turn again into yoghurt. They'll grow and they'll invade your kitchen drawers and household...

Are you good at keeping secrets?

If not, why would so many people confide in me? But on the other hand the people that need most to share (and somehow ease) their problems find it hardest to confide secrets.

If you had a time machine where would you go?

A royal in the court of the Egyptian Pharaoh or in the mystery of Atlantis.

If you could be a fictional/real character, who would you be?

I do not know, maybe Cyrano de Bergerac, St.Sebastian. They are both so different yet they both fascinate me and find a kind of admiration in them.

Do you believe in the supernatural?

Yes. Moreover it's mysteriously fascinating.

You 're stuck in an elevator with strangers: what do you do?

Sit down, relax and get to know them. Then I'll venture to do something. It's kind of cool to be a hero.

Are you a workaholic?

Work gives nobility to man, but it should not enslave man. Work should ideally be what you enjoy doing most, so it’s fun. If work is fun then I'm a workaholic.

What are you most afraid of?

Evil that you cannot overcome, like a terminal sickness. But then it becomes part of you, which would make me afraid of myself.

Would you quit a job without having another one lined up?

Yes, even though security has been too much linked with the adjective financial. But I would have answered differently if I had a wife and kids.