Miguel Formosa: 'I’m mostly scared that sometimes I am not capable of cracking the code of the project'

A Theatre & Communications graduate from the University of Malta, he co-created KomduSkomdu and recently starred in Teatru Malta’s GUTZ. He also performed in SnowGlobe, Malta’s first show for a single audience member on the autism spectrum, and in Harbour Odyssey at an international arts festival.

1. What’s been the most defining moment in your career so far?

Looking back as the years roll by there is one performance which does constantly come to mind, and that is KomduSkomdu. It was two years ago and I had just come out of university. I was fed up with the way we as a culture are almost programmed to be submissive and join the workforce for the sole purpose of earning money. This infuriated me then, and it angers me now. So, with the help of the Artivisti programme and Lee-N Abela, who I had contacted to co-write and direct this one man show, we put it up at Spazju Kreattiv. We had a sold-out weekend. KomduSkomdu follows the story of David who, having gone through a series of unfortunate events, has ended up living in his office. Yet as the country goes through another series of poorly made decisions, everyone on the island leaves the country – and David is left, all alone. We had restaged it a year later for a completely different space in a lecture hall at the Junior College. Yet with this in mind, I do consider every performance as defining. As of now, I have no idea what a career is. I’ve spent all of my life living in play and joy. Has every show been perfect? Of course not. But deep down I do look forward to the imperfections and occasional mistakes. It keeps me going, never forgetting that I am human too, just as anyone else. Such is the joy of our lives.

2. As a creative, how do you navigate the world and speed of social media?

Honestly, I really enjoy social media as a tool. Most of my day is spent laughing my ass off at memes and sending them to my friends. The problem is not social media, but how we tend to use it. Yet, (only) as a tool I adore social media. If we compare our time to the rest of human civilisation, we are really spoilt for choice. Information is literally a click away. Sure, you have to vent and filter out most of it, but it is there, there is no debating that. With this in mind, I do tend to agree that the younger generations have been affected negatively from the overuse of mobile phones and the overstimulation of these devices. It is a real shame that most people rather than using these devices as a tool, have instead found comfort in them. Yet, who am I to judge? I will not lie, I am part of this circle of disillusionment, but I try to stay cautiously aware of it as much as I can. I tend to use social media to promote my work and now and there land a few jokes.

3. Do you consider artificial intelligence a threat to your career, or an opportunity?

In truth, I do not consider artificial intelligence to be a threat. For one, it is almost futile to fight the progress of AI. At some point in the near future this was bound to happen. Yet, even though its progress is inevitable I still believe (just like social media) that ethical rules in our laws should be applied and enforced. Users should not be allowed to simply mimic a voice or an appearance of an individual, be it popular or not, without their consent. If such tools are to be acquired by the wrong hands, there will be repercussions beyond our control. Yet in my line of work, we usually use AI to enhance our works, for instance this technology could now be used to modify a voice or clean an audio file which was not recorded properly. There are many benefits from this technology, yet as with any other tool there is always the flip side.

4. How do you stay motivated and inspired, especially during tough times or when the work feels hard?

Motivation is a curious thing. It comes and goes. The trick I’ve found is to believe in your work. Yes, I’ve had days where I just wanted to book a cheap plane ticket and leave the country for two or three days; who hasn’t? But I truly believe that the work that I’m doing is really unique; or at least unique for me. As long as I am waking up in the morning and feeling that beauty is the little things; the minute details which are overlooked in our daily life, then yes, inspiration comes naturally. The worst thing I’ve found that one can do is to not listen to the ideas that come; leaving them to die. Not many people are capable of listening to their instincts, their thoughts and intuition. So, to let such things pass and not act upon them, for me, is the greatest sin; the worst of all. Other than this, most of my inspiration comes from music. From the moment I wake up until the minute I close my eyes, I’m always on the lookout for new music – always searching and trying to be engulfed by it. My favourite piece is between Clair De Lune and the love theme in Cinema Paradiso by Ennio Morricone.

5. How do you balance your creative instincts with the expectations of your audience or collaborators?

The balance here is always between the idea, and the story. When an idea pops into my mind I always like to dance with it for a few days, sometimes even months. I never act upon it immediately. As the idea needs to grow, develop, and almost learn to talk. More so, for an idea to develop it needs to be challenged. Looked dead in the eye. While on the other hand the story is the most important aspect, be it for film or theatre. The actors could be shit, but if the story holds, then at least, the audience could bear it. Therefore, a compromise between the idea and the story is not a compromise, it is a necessity. An idea alone is like a rose in the desert, after three days the rose would have probably been buried under a sand dune. What needs to be cultivated is a garden, for that rose and others to grow to their full potential. The rose in this case is the idea and the garden the story. One rose doesn’t make a garden. The story always comes first.

More so, I always believe that having a conversation is always the healthiest way to find a compromise. Knowing that the beauty of collaboration (and a trillion other things in life) is found in the in-betweens.

6. How do you approach a new project? Do you have a specific process or routine you follow?

Every project I do is different. Because every project is made up from totally different people. Different characters and sometimes even different work ethics. Mostly, I try to approach a new project with a clean slate. Almost as if I know nothing. Yet, what I try to do in everything I do is try to have control of what is in my boundary. I am a very anxious person. If you meet me in the streets, you probably won’t even guess it. But deep down I am scared. Not necessarily scared of the big questions – are we alone? And all of the other non-answerable questions that we as a species are mad about finding out. But I’m mostly scared that sometimes I am not capable of cracking the code of the project. By this I’m mostly referring to the state where one is comfortable in the work. As an actor, at least for me, the key to anything is to be comfortable. Comfortable with the text, with the other actors, sometimes even with yourself. People usually see the final result; the performance, the film. Yet what people tend not to realise is that behind the result are weeks and weeks of hard work and devotion. With the pay being what it is.

7. Can you let us in on some of the future projects, works?

Most people know me from doing theatre, acting in a production here and there. In fact, I’ve got a production during the first weeks of February titled Id-Dnub tal-Magħżulin produced by Adrian Buckle and directed by Tyrone Grima. Yet after this project, up next, I’ve got another production which is very close to my heart and my role isn’t that of an actor. Titled Il-Manifest tal-Qlub Maqsuma, co-produced by myself and Josue Formosa, and directed by myself. This production will take stage at Spazju Kreattiv this May with a stellar cast and will focus on the events that rocked the political stage in Malta between 1984-1986. Particularly the events that took place at Tal-Barrani. Preparations for this mammoth of a project began more than a year ago when it was originally meant to be a film. Yet, as it progressed and grew, I felt that a performance was more fitting. More details will be available in the coming weeks and months!

Extra round

What’s the most memorable or transformative role you’ve played, and what did you learn from it?

Two instances really come to my mind. The one role where I was completely transformed was for the role as the Zombie King in Bruce Micallef Enyaud’s recent short film titled We Three Kings. Although my role was very minor, I do remember vividly my face being completely engulfed by a prosthetic mask for more than 12 hours. It is something I’m really glad I’ve done. Another role that needed some transformation was that in Għanqbud f’Moħħha. From all of these years something which I really learnt and found interesting from the aspect of transformation is that it is always easier to transform into something which you are not. Be it a monster, someone who has a completely different intonation of voice than you. These factors will all make your life and the audience’s life easier. What I’ve learnt is that the hardest characters to play as an actor are those characters who are similar to you, or the ‘normal’ ones. The characters which do not have a specific trait, those which bland with the others.

This article is supported by Arts Council Malta.