The month of November has seen Lemonhead Productions putting up their fourth theatrical endeavour, Gurija Rrabjata. The script, directed, adapted and translated by Bryan Muscat, was originally penned by Reginald Rose, and went by the name of Twelve Angry Men. The story revolves around the eponymous twelve jurors deliberating the case of a teenage boy accused of murdering his father. We never get to see the boy or the actual case in court, but instead we are provided with a spectacle of characterization where we get to know what happened by means of the numerous discussions and allegations adopted by the jurors.

As can well be imagined, Gurija Rrabjata was solely driven by dialogue and characterization, with brief snippets of action here and there. This proved to be quite a challenge for the director and the cast. First of all, the actors and actresses were on stage all the time. This meant that each and every character had to be extremely well defined and carry credible dialogue in order for the audience not to get bored, and also to be able to differentiate between the jurors almost immediately. Characters had no names (each was appointed a number) so nuances of personality were very important. Even their clothes did not reveal much as all were dressed in autumn, toned down colours. The constant presence on stage also meant that movement had to be carefully choreographed in order to avoid actors masking each other, or having unsightly cluttering of people. So hard work was certainly no exception to this production.

But the effort invested by everyone involved reaped its just rewards. The production received excellent feedback both from the public (who were so engrossed with what was going on that they barely noticed the 1 hour 20 minutes of the first act); and also from the critics, who reacted positively to the production ‘a memorable theatrical experience' , and ‘The success of this production was largely due to its brilliant Maltese translation, with an intelligent feel for the local lingo, local sensibilities, and largely youthful use (or misuse) of language.' In fact, after Animal Farm, which was Lemonhead's first production, Gurija Rrabjata was the most successful play. This certainly augurs well for future productions.

‘It was a difficult piece', said director Bryan Muscat. ‘It wasn't my first time as director/actor, but this proved to be a really tough one. I had to see the what and how the other cast members are performing; orchestrate all the moves – it was like a choreographed piece, because of the stage settings; at the same time I had to do my part as the full 12 actors were on stage all of the time. No breaks, no scenes… one big scene from beginning to end…. only interrupted by a short break.

At the end, when the production was so close I started to panic, and I thought that all the work we did was in vain. I asked my dear friend, Mark Warner, to come have a look and give us a helping hand in the last stage of the production. He did, and that lifted a huge weight off my shoulder during the production week.'

Well, at the end of the journey, it was a very satisfying experience. Most of the actors still consider it to be the best piece of theatre produced by Lemonhead. A view some lemonhead followers concur with.

CAST & CREW

Juror 1 AVELINE FARRUGIA
Juror 2 TRICIA FABRI
Juror 3 SILVIO GALEA
Juror 4 ETHEL KAWKI
Juror 5 JOANNE GALEA
Juror 6 GERTRUDE BORG MARKS
Juror 7 SAMUEL AGIUS
Juror 8 BRYAN MUSCAT
Juror 9 PAULINE CORDINA
Juror 10 CHRYSANDER AGIUS
Juror 11 NOEL TANTI
Juror 12 MIRIAM CHRISTINE BORG

Lights LOUISE MUSCAT
Make Up ANTHONY BUSUTTIL
Stage Manager JOE CALLUS
Production Design SILVIO GALEA
Script & Direction BRYAN MUSCAT
Production LOUISE MUSCAT - BRYAN MUSCAT