Raphael Vassallo It is a critically acclaimed work that has been performed to rave reviews around the world since it won the Tony Award for Best Play in 1967.
But when the London-based ‘In Company Theatre’ tried to put it on at the St James Centre for Creativity in Valletta last weekend, they found that the Malta Film and Stage Classification Board would only consent to a ‘16’ certification rating (instead of the original rating of ‘18’) on condition that an ‘offensive’ line was excised from the script altogether.
The name of the play? ‘A Day in the Death of Joe Egg’ by Peter Nichols.
The line considered too disturbing for Maltese adolescents? ‘I see God as some sort of manic depressive rugby footballer...’
The director’s reaction to the censorship? “A sad indictment of an apparent theocracy’s desperate need to control the populace however it can.”
Theocratic censorship And yet, the above-quoted ‘God as manic depressive rugby footballer’ line – spoken by a father whose only child suffers from severe brain damage, and who understandably questions the Creator’s divine intentions as a result – does not at a glance appear to defy any of the strictures usually placed on local theatrical performances.
It is not blasphemous in the strict sense of the word; otherwise, the censorship board could have cited the Criminal Code in defence of its removal. Nor does it ‘incite hatred or violence’ towards any particular category of person.
Partly for this reason, theatregoers who contacted MaltaToday after Saturday’s performance expressed their concern that the Film and Stage Classification Board may be hardening its already rigid stance against “immorality” in local theatre productions: making it increasingly difficult for religious controversy of any kind whatsoever to find an expression on the Maltese stage.
Contacted on Monday, the chairperson of the censorship board, Therese Friggieri, readily confirmed that the revised ‘16’ rating was made conditional on the removal of the above line.
“Before going any further, let me say that I thought it was a very good play,” she said. “An excellent play, in fact. I thought this when I read the script, and also when I went to watch it on Saturday. In fact, I was the one who clapped the loudest...”
Asked why the “God as a manic depressive rugby footballer” image was considered too offensive for a local audience, Friggieri replied that the “ambiguous portrayal” of the Almighty might have “caused confusion” among adolescent minds.
“Remember that the age classification also meant that fifth-formers may have been present in the audience,” she added.
Be that as it may, what certainly caused confusion to Maltese audiences (young and old alike) was the theatre company’s unexpected reaction to the censorship. Instead of simply glossing over the line in question – which occurs on three separate occasions during the same play – the actor in question suddenly turned to the audience and said: “Oops! Sorry, I can’t say that in Malta, can I?”
Paradoxically, Friggieri herself admits she was nonplussed when she heard the actor ‘apologise’ for the line’s removal.
“I was a bit taken aback, because the director of the play had himself suggested he would be willing to remove lines, if it was necessary to secure a lower age certification. He was very keen on making the play accessible to schoolchildren. I have this in writing from Mr Brennan himself. So I can’t understand why he would first agree to remove the line, and then respond in that way...”
Draconian measures of an ‘apparent theocracy’ However, director Daniel Brennan himself supplies a slightly different perspective. “I indeed consented to it (the removal of the line), but solely on the grounds of wanting to allow younger people to enjoy and learn from the play,” he told MaltaToday. “Had I been aware of the ‘iron rod’ with which Ms Friggieri would seem to rule, I would have taken more of a stand.”
Brennan also explains that the choice of line to remove was itself somewhat dubious, considering that there were other, arguably more offensive lines to choose from.
“Before coming to Malta we had absolutely no idea about the current censorship furore,” he said. “We just thought it was a bit silly that racism, derogatory comments on disability and sympathy with Hitler (not to mention equating of Jesus with Lawrence of Arabia) were overlooked, while a seemingly flippant and inoffensive line was ordered to be removed.”
The theatre company director was surprised to discover that theatre scripts were still subject to pre-emptive screening in an EU member state in 2009.
“Theatre has been a place where freedom of speech and expression have long been enjoyed and celebrated. Indeed, in the UK, it was in 1967 (the year A Day in the Death of Joe Egg was first performed) that the Lord Chancellor’s power to censor the arts was first challenged. That power was finally abolished just one year later. That’s 41 years ago!”
In this respect, Malta appears to be unique among European countries visited by the In Company Theatre to date.
“I cannot speak for every country, of course, but I have not heard of such proscription from anywhere in Europe since the fall of the Iron Curtain. I find it a sad indictment of an apparent theocracy’s desperate need to control the populace however it can. I have met the most wonderful, passionate, emotional, cultured and highly intelligent people on my many visits to Malta and Gozo. I find it insulting that these people should not be allowed – because of the implementation of their government’s draconian measures – to enjoy the freedoms of the rest of the developed world.”
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