F’Ħakka T’Għajn is a community theatre project, led by artistic director Dr Isabelle Gatt, lecturer at the Arts, Open Communities & Adult Education (Faculty of Education). Its objective was to engage older adults in theatre-making and research the capacity of theatre in combatting ageism.
In March 2021, all Active Aging Centre members in Siġġiewi were invited to take part in this theatre making project. All the applicants who could commit to the theatre workshop and rehearsals schedule were accepted to participate in the project.
A creative professional creative team set up by Isabelle Gatt included a theatre director (Josette Ciappara), a musician (Joe Roscoe), a playwright (Simon Bartolo) and an actor (Sean Briffa). This team worked alongside six Active Aging female members to come up with a theatre performance devised from the women’s stories, wishes, hopes and dreams which emerged during the improvisation and drama workshops. The script is the result of a collaborative process between the women and the professionals.
The performance, through the vitality of the participants as they narrate, sing and dance, challenges stereotypical perceptions of senior citizens and emphasises their importance as active citizens in society. The performance, filmed by a professional media crew on a TV set, was launched last week the Siġġiewi Active Ageing Centre F’Ħakka T’Għajn and is now being screened in all the Active Ageing centres around Malta. It is also planned to be screened in schools and University. A Q&A with the audience and the participants to be available for public soon.
F’Ħakka T’Għajn forms part of AMASS (Acting on the margins, arts as social sculpture) which is taking place across eight different countries with different marginalised communities. The University of Malta is represented by the Department of Arts, Open Communities and Adult Education within the Faculty of Education. This project has received funding from the European Union Horizon 2020 and falls under the grant agreement No 870621.
