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“Theatre is theatre. People want to be entertained”. Peter Busuttil has some firm ideas about Fabrika Fantastika’s latest production, a Maltese translation of ‘Waiting for Godot’. The play not only marks the centenary celebration of Beckett’s birth, but the first time Peter Busuttil and Pino Scicluna will appear in Maltese theatre after a ten year absence. Joined by Karmeno Serracino, Kris Spiteri and new-comer James Camilleri, the five actors plan to drag ‘Waiting for Godot’ away from the purists and return it to the public. Busuttil affirms, “it is a classic masterpiece of theatre, which when first produced was regarded as absurd, but is being produced in a reality which is much more absurd then the events in the play. It’s no longer absurd but real. Funny and sad.”
Pino Scicluna and Carmeno Serracino are already rehearsing by the time I find the place. The de Redin bastions are suspended behind the Cathedral, looking down over an impressive view of the island. Getting there involves negotiating rusty gates and a long dark tunnel. Light fixtures are attached to the sheer walls and a group of builders plan seating arrangements. When Peter Busuttil turns up, the three of us sit on the newly exposed bastion steps. The space is a Beckett fan’s dream, the feel is desolate, hidden, hanging off a dark corner. The De Redin bastions amplify Waiting for Godot’s nihilistic and vertiginous absurdity. But Peter is already shaking his head. He considers ideas like ‘nihilism’ and ‘surrealism’ out-dated, parts of a culture that oppose the actor’s “in-the-moment-ness”. His mistrust of academics (and –Ism Makers in general) is aggressive. “This is the best play written for actors. Look at the word,” he says, ‘it’s a “play”. Like children playing.”
Pino looks up and nods his head. “It’s jeu in French too.”
Approaching a cultural behemoth like ‘Waiting for Godot’ in this way, with a sense of fun, the cast hope to cut through the tangle of literary criticism and theory deep to the quick. “Our production is a comedy about two tramps, maybe Laurel and Hardy, maybe the Two Ronnies, maybe any other duo act you can think of. Put them in a desolate location. Waiting for someone to come and waiting for something to happen.” And “a desolate location” is exactly what they’ve found. It’s impossible not to be impressed by the scope of the place, the “ambiance” that Busuttil and Scicluna hope audiences will take with them after each performance. The feeling of space and claustrophobia is unsettling.
Busuttil’s one fear is limitation. “We don’t want to feel boxed in- you must risk”. The group nods. Listening to him, it’s difficult not to agree. The concern that Maltese theatre will get stuck in a rut, stop pushing the envelope, has prompted a recent flurry of activity. “It’s something new but it isn’t experimental. We’re not trying to be ground-breaking,” says Serracino. But not only is this the first time Waiting for Godot will be performed by a professional troupe in Malta, it is also the first time anything by Beckett has been translated into Maltese.
Whenever Busuttil wanders off, directing the builders or poking at loose wires, Pino turns the conversation to his translation. He remains self-effacing throughout, reminding me that the directness of the Maltese language has inevitably distorted the original’s subtlety. But in the process, it’s created something a lot more concrete. “I found Maltese idioms and expressions instead of literal translations. Where Beckett referenced the Bible, we matched it with the same text in Maltese.” The play was rendered into Maltese from Beckett’s own translation in English and supplemented by Carlo Frecchero’s Italian version. As translator and actor (Pino plays the stiff-collar-clad Vladimir) you might think he’s got a lot riding on this performance. But 20 years of experience make for hardened veterans.
And it’s only the beginning. “We’re working on new television programs,” says Busuttil, “and selling the production abroad.” Plans in the pipe-line include a TV reality show on Comino, sometime in September 2007. The eclectic mix keeps Busuttil ready for a challenge. Another big project will be turning the de Redin bastions into a permanent venue, continuing the rehabilitation work begun for this production.
The actors return to rehearsals. The chairs need to be put down, the lights angled just right. Somebody is sweeping the weeds out of the tunnel and off the bastion. Busuttil parcels his opinion. “This is a play, a comedy, a fun evening out. And don’t think otherwise.”
But looking down at de Redin and the stark ditch, it feels like Waiting for Godot will always be a contradiction best resolved by an audience. Removing the absurd from Waiting for Godot might be an irony even Beckett would be proud of.
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