Teatru Unplugged | Holding on to a winning formula

This year marks the 13th edition of Teatru Unplugged, the popular annual concert series held at the Manoel Theatre, and will include Chasing Pandora, Beige, Renzo Spiteri Terra Project featuring Peter Grech, Fraser, The Blast and Megan Balzan, with Pawlu Borg Bonaci (Fakawi) as presenter. Teodor Reljic spoke to co-produced Jonathan Shaw about what’s in store for this year’s event.

22 November 2010, 12:00am

2 min read

RISKY BEGINNINGS
13 years ago our National Theatre hosted mainly classical musical events. For that reason Teatru Unplugged was a leap in the dark. However one of the main reasons behind Teatru Unplugged was specifically to attract a different, maybe younger, crowd to the theatre. I think that many factors led to its success, but mainly our simple and original formula of having short diverse acts in one show.

OVER THE YEARS
We have tried many different ideas over the years, sketches instead of comperes, dance, comedy. The audience seems to appreciate something innovative every year. However the expression ‘do not mess with a winning formula’ is something we feel is very relevant to this concert. Although the acts change every year, the formula is pretty much the same. Theatre does play a large part. The Manoel has excellent acoustics and it provides a magical backdrop, yet it also creates other challenges especially due to it’s small seating capacity.

BALANCING ACTS
Choosing the acts is always tricky! We try to reach a balance between new and more established talent as well as different genres of music. As of last year, we have started providing a platform for a very young artist yearly. This year Megan Balzan, who is 12, will be opening the concert. The audience, especially those who attend annually, do have their expectations and we are automatically benchmarked with previous editions. Nonetheless, we like to think that we achieve our main objective every year, ie: giving the audience a great night out at the theatre!

WHAT TO EXPECT
This years’ selection is eclectic as usual with a great mix of excellent local musicians. I think that each act, from our young talent, the compere, and to the last act which is a new choir called The Blast (a first at Teatru) will contribute to the overall positive effect!

All concerts start at 20:00. €8, €12 and €15 tickets are available from: www.teatrumanoel.com.mt, [email protected], 2124 6389. Early booking is recommended.