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Alex Grech comes from a family of creative people. His sister is an actress, his brother a theatre director, and his youngest brother a musician. He was part of a young set of actors that emerged in the mid-eighties.
 Alex took a long break from the stage to focus on a successful career overseas and to run his strategic consultancy firm on his return to Malta. In 2004, he made a comeback performance in Actinghouse Productions’ ‘Dinner.’ Now he has landed himself a main role in The Odd Couple which premieres 23 April at the Manoel. The play is on for two weekends and Julian Manduca caught up with him this week.
What prompted you to take up acting. Any family influence?
I got into acting in 1982. My job as a trainee accountant was not exactly riveting and I was looking for a way out of the siege mentality enveloping the island. My friend Chris Gatt, who always wanted to be in theatre, had joined MTADA. I wasn’t sure I had any acting talent - but I sure needed some decent company. I sneaked into the drama school when Chris wasn’t looking.
Both my sister Charlotte and brother Herman have worked in theatre. My youngest brother Shaun, probably the most creative of us all, prefers his guitar and his art.
Of all your roles which were the most memorable and why?
In the eighties, Jon Rosser press-ganged a bunch of young actors into a very credible production of Twelfth Night. I played Malvolio, yellow stockings and all. We performed to school audiences studying the text for their O-Levels - it was like playing to a football crowd every time, very raucous.
I also enjoyed playing Lars in Dinner - working with Frank Hoerner, after some eight years away from theatre, was an inspiration.
Which are the actors that you admire and would suggest aspiring actors should follow?
In Malta, I like Theatre Anon’s work - though it’s been a while since they have been in production. Irene Christ and Actinghouse Productions are constantly pushing the boundaries, with new theatre and new texts. Their approach is very fresh.
I have always admired Manoel Cauchi - I once played the Porter to his Macbeth. I just love his voice, his presence. From my generation - Jes Camilleri is always compelling. On the professional circuit - I’ve always been mesmerised by Antony Sher and Alan Rickman. I’ve watched them both, several times.
What, in your opinion, are the ‘ingredients’ for high quality theatre?
If it’s good theatre, then it must engage and move you in some way. It must connect, take you to another place for at least the duration of the performance. It may be honest and true to life - or just one big lie to take you away from all that is mundane around you. Good theatre must always be memorable.
Did you ever have to prepare for a role in a way where you had to change yourself a lot either mentally or physically, and what can you tell us about those experiences?
I was once in a gruelling four-hour production of The Good Woman of Szechwan, songs and all. I remember a dress rehearsal where the smoke machine malfunctioned and I nearly choked to death. At the time, I was balanced on the Second God’s back pretending I was about to take flight and singing a song in falsetto.
You are taking part in ‘The Odd Couple,’ what can you tell me about your experience in the play so far?
It’s very challenging. It’s a play about rhythm and pace. It’s also one long sparring match with Oscar, played by Kevin Drake.
Knowing that the play is well known because of the movie and TV series that followed is both exhilarating and scary.
I’m also not exactly the most useful or tidy person around the house and my culinary expertise is really limited to pasta (I make a great amatricciana). The irony of me playing Felix has not exactly been wasted on my long-suffering wife.
The play is by Neil Simon, what impresses you about him?
Simply how a play crafted in the early sixties is still so relevant - maybe even more so now, in Maltese society, where finally people are acknowledging that relationships are not always made in heaven and that people do break up and have to get on with their lives. It’s also very, very funny.
What is theatre adding to your life?
It is a welcome break from just interacting with the business community or a laptop. Actors in Malta tend to be honest folk with no hidden agendas. Theatre gives me an opportunity to explore language and hones my communication skills. It’s also one of the riskiest things you can actually do. Try getting on a stage in front of a paying audience for an adrenalin rush.
What future plans do you have?
It would be fun to do some physical theatre again, sometime, assuming my body is up to it - a Kafka or a Beckett. I would also like to find the time and courage to write something that my son could be proud of, one day.
If you could change three things in Malta which would they be?
What, only three?!
The Environment, with all that encapsulates. It would be refreshing to cycle in Dingli and not risk being shot at by a renegade hunter, run over by an inane driver or crashing into somebody’s unwanted fridge. We live in what used to be a beautiful island - we are ruining it for future generations. Just read the letters pages in any Maltese paper. It’s appalling that we set such low standards for what lies outside our door, when we are all so obsessed with having sparkling private residences. We are a nation of double standards. We all seem to think that the environment belongs to nobody, or that it’s someone else’s problem. It’s about time we took responsibility for our actions.
Patronage is still rife. It comes with the size of the island and the way things get done in this part of the world, of course. But if we are going to grow up as a nation, compete internationally and create new jobs, we just cannot keep on doing things the way we have always done - by relying on family or political Party connections to get on in life. Nobody owes us a living - and young people should believe in their own talents, rather than having to rely on getting a leg up from someone important. Patronage ultimately is a very hollow satisfaction. I fear the next decade will see a brain-drain similar to the one my generation experienced in the seventies and eighties. And this time, I am not sure that the migrants will return to Malta.
Small-mindedness. There’s a lot of navel-gazing going on here. Yes, we have a fantastic history and enough world-class heritage to make others jealous. But, no, we are not the centre of the universe. We all can learn from what others are doing - even if we then modify it to our own unique environment. A bit of humility might take us a long way.
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