Political theatre in Malta, 1965-1990

Abstract

"A theatre cannot justify its existence, if it is not conscious of its social mission. The adjective social implies an emotional and ethical attitude towards others and the artistic result is always influenced by this attitude. Our theatre seeks neither to entertain nor to defend thesis. It only asks questions to which each one of us find his/her own answer : 'engaged' art does not provide the right answer, it is content to ask the right question". (From the programme for Odin Teatret's Ornitofilene 1965) If by political act we understand an interaction between at least two people, theatre by its very nature becomes the embodiment of and the vehicle for political acts. Theatre in its essence, is the relationship between a 'spectator' and an actor. In certain cases, however, the content and/or form can be so volatile, that the thin margin of distinction between spectator and actor is practically non existent - as I shall illustrate later on. The sweeping nature of such a statement, as reinforced by Augusto Boal's very opening line of his most renowned book (Theatre of the Oppressed), which says " ... all the activities of man are political and theatre is one of them", would make me have to take into consideration for this dissertation all theatrical performances held in this 25 year span which I am tackling because all theatrical performances qualify to be called Political with a capital 'P', that is Political in the universal sense. I have, however, a distinct idea of the margins which contain that theatre which I understand when I say "political theatre". How similar to mine, however, are or were the views of the persons who made theatre within the 25 year period I am reviewing? As most of my research was to be based on interviews and newspaper articles, I resolved to find out what the theatre practitioners who operated within this 25 year span understood by this term. Following the interviews a definite distinction emerged as being present in theatre practitioners' minds : "Political theatre", "political theatre", and "political act and political action".