2020 started out on a bright and exciting note for us at Teatru Malta. Just a week into January, we launched XENI, a collaborative exhibition that celebrated the history of set building and making in Malta and Gozo over the past ten years, the first of its kind locally. Then we premiered L-Interrogazzjoni, the intimate and passionately driven play, which we staged in a living room at a private residence. Shortly after having wrapped L-Interrogazzjoni, we moved straight onto Trikki Trakki, the children’s festival that won us the 2020 Art’s Award for best project for children and teens. This was the last project we were able to successfully manage before the pandemic put a stop to everything.
For the first time in the history of Teatru Malta we faced the thought of having to cancel our productions for our safety and, more importantly, our audience’s. For three months, the team met daily on online conference calls, keeping in touch and keeping track of all the latest Covid-19 updates while trying our best to stay as present as possible online through social media. A number of initiatives were launched, the very first of which was Kwarta Kwarantina, followed by our online World Theatre Day press conference, during which we launched Theatre Depozit, a funding initiative from which 24 applying artists stood to benefit. A total of four productions will be produced in the coming years, bringing work to over 110 artists and crew members in the industry, with 20% of our production budget invested in this initiative.
TeleTeatru was a one-week online production streaming initiative which we started to keep our audiences entertained at home.
