Jamie Cardona in Mid-Djarju ta’ Student Fi Skola Tal-Knisja. Photo on the right: Owen Michael Grech
I approached Mid-Djarju ta’ Student Fi Skola Tal-Knisja with some mixed feelings. On the one hand, the one time I had seen actor and writer Jamie Cardona in action (those words are about to get a very different meaning) was in Il-Giddieb Għomru Twil, where he made a simply spectacular Pinocchio. I am also an admirer of director Vikesh Godhwani’s work, his recent Aura, A Musical In The Dark being one of the most whimsical and poignant works I’ve seen locally. In other words, I expected great things.
On the other hand, I was also aware that what seemed to be half the island was flocking to see Mid-Djarju ta’ Student Fi Skola Tal-Knisja for, let’s put it this way, less than noble reasons. I did wonder whether this would be a case of artificial hype simply because the Maltese still act like…well, like hormonal teens where sex is concerned.
I should add that Mid-Djarju ta’ Student Fi Skola Tal-Knisja is enjoying what must be the longest local theatre run in history. Anyone, correct me if I get this wrong, but I don’t remember any theatre production reaching a 40+ run (with the exclusion of panto, maybe). Every single show till November is sold out, which is unheard of in theatre in Malta, so you see where I’m going with the hype.
I’ll just come out and say it, Cardona’s Mid-Djarju ta’ Student Fi Skola Tal-Knisja is comedy gold, especially if you’ve spent your childhood battling the demons caused by a church school education. Throughout the one and a half hour play, Cardona plays himself and a host of other characters, carrying the entire show on his shoulders without missing a beat.
Fantozzi & Adrian Mole energy
We kick off in the present day, when Cardona’s mother finds his old school diary and hey presto – we set off on a journey of school bells, sadistic teachers, clueless Brothers (the school in question is, unofficially, Stella Maris) and – of course – awkward sexual awakenings. Cardona alternates his inner monologues on his diary with hilarious exchanges with his school mates and his teachers – all of which are played by him.
The actor’s character swaps are incredibly skillful. It only takes a change in voice and posture for Cardona to create remarkably funny characters like Herbert, Julio, Il-Papra and others. Not one single cue in the conversational turns was missed, which is genuinely remarkable.
Godhwani’s direction is beautifully original, using a flexible set that combines lighting, music and vocal cues to add an extra layer to the script. Mid-Djarju ta’ Student Fi Skola Tal-Knisja could have been delivered as a straight-up monologue and still been hilarious, but Godhwani is not one to take the easy way out. His unorthodox choices contributed to an even funnier narrative.
Moreover, this production wouldn’t have reached the heights it did without a superb backstage crew that handled the tight directorial requirements brilliantly. Chris Gatt’s lighting is equally crucial. One slight misalignment with Cardona’s lines would ruin the comedic timing, but there was none of that. It’s a happy day when all the moving parts of a theatre production employ the same superior level of skill, and this was certainly one of these few occasions, resulting in a near-perfect experience for the audience.
I don’t want to reveal too much about the jokes themselves because it will ruin it for those of you who are yet to watch it. Suffice it to say that this coming-of-age tale gives off definite Fantozzi energy, for those of you old enough to be familiar with the iconic Italian character. It’s kind of Gen Z’s answer to Adrian Mole, with a stronger preoccupation about penis size.
The play’s success is helped substantially by Cardona’s excellent stage presence. Undeniably a natural, the young actor commands the attention of the audience effortlessly with easy, self-deprecating humour that’s very much in the style of Louise Orwin’s FameHungry. His interactions with the crowd are priceless, giving the impression of an organic conversation and leading to some of the funniest moments in the play.
Still, Cardona’s script may be funny, but it’s also vulnerable. What makes it super relateable is the fact that many of us have been here as teenagers, worrying about the size of our penises, our boobs, whether we’re gay, straight or bi, how we’re going to get that first date etc etc. And there is a serious element, too, with the nudes subplot touching a really raw nerve and coming to a satisfactory conclusion.
Shoutout to Paul Portelli, voicing God/Cardona’s conscience to brilliant effect. And respect to Cardona for the brilliantly-inserted John Suda gag, which sadly flew over the heads of the mostly non-theatre going crowd. Which brings me to this: Mid-Djarju ta’ Student Fi Skola Tal-Knisja is undoubtedly a huge, and well-deserved success. I didn’t see any familiar faces on the night I attended and it was painfully obvious that, for many, this was the first time attending a theatre production (fine, I eavesdropped).
If this play manages to persuade even a tiny percentage of newcomers to give another local production a chance, it will be amazing. It’s not all about the D guys, but there’s still plenty of entertaining local productions taking place around us.
The play does lag slightly in the ‘conscience’ scene. The audience does not need to be spoonfed by such a protracted explanation. I also have to call out this recent trend where a production is delayed for latecomers.
The show I attended started more than 10 minutes late so we could literally wait for two audience members. The house lights were eventually switched off even though their seats remained conspicuously empty – then they were switched on again and we proceeded to wait around while one of them disputed which seat he was meant to be in. This is just not on and is immensely disrespectful to those of us who showed up on time. You won’t catch Teatru Manoel or Spazju Kreattiv delaying for late comers, incidentally, and neither should other theatres.
If you want to read about another locally-written script, check out my review of Sisyphean Quick Fix.
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