Jekk drajt tixrob mill-ilma ta’ artek

"Għax jasal żmien meta l-għejun li minnhom tixrob f’art barranija jinxfu, wkoll jekk drajt tixrob mill-ilma ta’ artek; ukoll jekk dik l-art m’għandhiex għajr ilma mdardar u mielaħ; ukoll jekk ġej mill-istess bir li ombrajtu minn ċkunitek. Ukoll jekk drajt it-togħma tal-barrani. Trid terġa’ dduq dak il-morr, terġa’ tittawwal f’dak il-bir u tosserva f’dak il-fond iswed sfiq dik ix-xiħaġa ħajja bilkemm titħarrek, titlajja hemm isfel – biex tħallik terġa’ tara kemm kemm ir-rifless ta’ dak il-wiċċ hemm isfel …ir-raġuni tal-biża’ li ġarrejt miegħek ħajtek kollha, tkun fejn tkun."

IL-BELLIEGĦA FIL-BIR
II Att - 2 xena
 

STORYLINE

Michael comes to his restored family farmhouse-cum fashionable villa to find that his Mother and Pawlinu (?) have left the home for good, leaving him and his gay brother, Alistair alone in the house. Not having any income they are soon “saved” by the return of their long departed father, the Old Man – who has come back seeking vindication from his sons after having being thrown out of the house for having once too often been involved in a disastrous fireworks accident, a dangerous obsession that has always run in the family. He takes over the role of both father and mother bent on one aim – the restoration of the past as he believes it should have been. Violence, greed, fear, hate and resentment are the full gammut of emotions that animate the drama and the past comes heavily leaden with superstition, guilt and above, all fear – as symbolised by the mythical” belliegħa”, the ogre used to coerce children into obedience through terror and which inhabits the underground water reservoir on the family land. The boys have their own secrets, the one they will not share with the father, and the one’s they will not share with each other. What they do share is Rieni, Michael’s girlfriend and Alistair’s first love before he discovered his homosexuality. Although dissatisfied and alien to their family roots, she has finally been able to come to the household and serves as a catalyst for the coming to terms that is swift to unfold. In her past there is PJ, a powerful entrepreneur who travels with his own bodyguards, with a nose for business, tainted with the hint of shadiness that spells success. He, rather than the father, is Michael's “little black god” who will finally give him the freedom he seeks by striking a deal to sell all the family property. But what happens if he cannot get his brother to agree and sign the deal? Will the father allow the land he once owned, and which he still claims, fall victim to the environment vultures? And can the absent and never-seen all-powerful Mother be really discounted and forgotten that easily?

Stephanie
Farrugia
Rieni


 

John Suda
 PJ.

Ritratti
Mario. Mintoff