Jacob Piccinino and Simone Spiteri in Għanjiet il-Baħħ
From the very moment the two actors erupt on stage, Għanjiet il-Baħħ transfixes the audience with a horrifyingly honest depiction of addiction and toxic relationships. I had never quite appreciated the saying ‘like a car crash’ until I found myself unable to gaze away from what the protagonists of this play were doing to themselves and to each other, each vignette of their co-dependent relationship giving rise to more questions than it answers.
But let’s take a step back. Għanjiet il-Baħħ is Mark Vella’s translation of Blackout Songs, the highly-acclaimed play by Joe White that last year was nominated for an Olivier Award. Directed by Toni Attard, it details the relationship between a man and a woman who first meet at an AA meeting. We don’t get to know their names until the very end, but we do get to know them extremely intimately, as we witness a series of ‘episodes’ in their lives.
From the very start we have no doubt that this is a couple shrouded in tragedy, but also in beauty, wit and tenderness. The play presents a series of non-linear vignettes, very much in the style of Nick Payne’s Constellations, which was also locally produced back in 2013. As we jump through years and locations, the narrative takes on an almost surreal quality so that we’re never quite sure whether what we’re viewing actually happened, or in which order. Until the final, devastating scenes.
Unlike Sisyphean Fix, which earlier this year gave us an equally brutal and powerful take on addiction from an ‘external’ perspective, Għanjiet il-Baħħ slaps us with an intimacy that’s almost obscene in its honesty, to mimic the female protagonist’s play on words. As the audience, we root for the couple’s love story to flourish, even as we acknolwedge to ourselves that they’re headed towards disaster. We are taken on a merry-go-round of promises, disclaimers, drunken chaos, role playing and flirtations, and we accompany them gleefully, wanting them to turn the page while at the same time feeding off their manic energy. Until finally, the deceptions and the little cruel jabs become too much even for us. And the question pops unbidden: how long will they keep hurting each other and throwing away chance after chance?
Which, of course, is the whole point. Despite this, not once do we doubt the intensity of the couple’s feelings for each other. Actors Jacob Piccinino and Simone Spiteri deliver a heartbreaking performance, a raw vulnerability underscoring their every action, even when they’re at their most brash. Attard’s direction eschews all distractions, keeping the set and props as raw as the events that are unfolding in front of us. The Attard ‘signature’ is present to great effect throughout the whole production, especially in the interludes. Here, Chris Gatt’s lighting is also crucial in creating a liminal effect as the bacchanalia unfolds, part-sensual, part-destruction.
The play was accompanied by surtitles in English, but these were out of sync most of the time. There was also a significant gap between the English version and the Maltese dialogue.
Għanjiet il-Baħħ runs at Spazju Kreattiv Theatre, in Valletta, on October 25, 26 and 27. Tickets are available online. For more Malta theatre reviews check out Brad Birch’s Peer Gynt and Miti Miti, Teatru Malta’s children’s show.
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I received no payment for this review and I used complimentary press tickets. The opinions expressed here are purely my own and Spazju Kreattiv had no input/control over what I wrote. To learn more about my policies and my reviewing process, visit my Affiliate/Advertising disclosure page.