Alfred Sant’s Fid-Dell Tal-Katidral Performed in Morocco

Alfred Sant’s Dans l’Ombre de La Cathédrale, a theatrical representation in French based on his best seller Fid-Dell tal-Katidral has been performed at the ‘Comedrama International Festival’ in Oujda, a city in northeast Morocco, near the Algerian border, one week after it was staged in Montrouge, Paris. The French version of the play, translated by Charles Briffa, has been adapted and directed on stage by Anne Bérélowitch and performed by the group Instant MIX. Instant MIX are planning to make a multilingual representation of Dans l’Ombre de La Cathédrale, with some passages in Maltese and are planning to tour the play in other countries, including Malta in 2018-2019.

“The performance in Oujda was unbelievable. The audience at the Comedrama festival was truly ‘populaire’. There were unexpected reactions from the Moroccan audience. They praised the fact that we were looking at history and its lessons. The play worked really well in both countries. Young members of the audience, including other participants from Iran, Egypt and Algeria were thrilled by the play-within-the-play structure. Many took a long time to understand it was not “real”. As a matter of fact both audiences in Montrouge and Oujda felt absorbed into the historical scene and followed it as if they were following a movie.’ Anne Bérélowitch told the media after the representation in Oujda.
Alfred Sant’s best selling play Fid-Dell tal-Katidral, (In the Cathedral’s shadow) was first published in 1994. It won second prize in a national play writing competition held in 1976 and was then performed at the Theatre of the University of Malta under the direction of Joe Friggieri.

Maltese Version – FID-DELL TAL-KATIDRAL TA’ ALFRED SANT TITTELLA’ FIL-MAROKK

Dans l’Ombre de La Cathédrale, rappreżentazzjoni bil-Franċiż tad-dramm ta’ Alfred Sant Fid-Dell tal-Katidral, ittellgħet fil-‘Comedrama International Festival’ f’Oujda, belt fil-Marokk ħdejn il-fruntiera Alġerina, ġimgħa wara li ttellgħet f’Montrouge, Pariġi. It-traduzzjoni għal Franċiż saret minn Charles Briffa, b’adattament u direzzjoni ta’ Anne Bérélowitch bl-interpretazzjoni tal-grupp Instant Mix. Instant Mix qed jippjanaw li jagħmlu rappreżentazzjoni multilingwistika tad-dramm b’passaġġi anke bil-Malti f’aktar pajjiżi, inkluż Malta fl-2018-2019.

“Ir-rappreżentazzjoni f’Oujda kienet ta’ barra minn hawn. Kien hemm reazzjonijiet mhux mistennija mill-udjenza Marokkina. L-udjenza faħħret il-fatt li konna qed inħarsu lejn l-istorja u l-lezzjonijiet li għallmitna. Id-dramm ħareġ tajjeb ħafna f’Oujda u Montrouge. Membri tal-udjenza l-aktar żagħżugħa, inklużi parteċipanti mill-Iran, l-Eġittu u l-Alġerija għoġbithom l-istruttura ta’ dramm-fi-ħdan-dramm. Ħafna minnhom ħadu l-ħin biex fehmu li ma kinitx ‘reali’. Bħala stat ta’ fatt, l-udjenza, kemm f’Montrouge u kemm f’Oujda twaħħdu max-xena storika u segwewha daqs li kieku qed jaraw film.” Anne Bérélowitch qalet lill-istampa wara r-rappreżentazzjoni f’Oujda.

Fid-Dell tal-Katidral, ta’ Alfred Sant ġie ippubblikat għall-ewwel darba fl-1994. Id-dramm rebaħ it-tieni premju f’kompetizzjoni nazzjonali tad-drammi fl-1976 biex imbagħad ittella’ fuq il-palk fit-Teatru tal-Universita` ta’ Malta taħt id-direzzjoni ta’ Joe Friggieri.