Home is where the heart is, but its beating core can probably be found on the dining room table, where many Maltese families gather every Sunday to savour roasted meats, potatoes sprinkled with fennel and each other’s company. Mealtimes on the island are sacred spaces, where culture and tradition sit side-by-side with your beloved – or irritating – family members. 

Teatru Malta’s L-Ikla t-Tajba, an interactive performance starting tomorrow from 7:30pm at Gozo's Xwejni salt pans, celebrates this and looks at Maltese gastronomy – its ingredients, recipes and verve – through theatre and poetry. 

Like good old family recipes, the 350-year old saltpans have been an essential ingredient to the formation of Maltese and Gozitan meals for centuries in its production of salt, making the choice of location for this site-specific performance key in creating an experience for all the senses. Indeed, the production will be followed by a traditional majjalata – slow-roasted pork, with vegetables and potatoes, catered by Ta’ Mena Estate, whose focus is on locally grown ingredients and recipes which have been passed on for generations. 

A stellar team is behind the piece, which takes place all weekend, up until this Sunday evening: directed by Nona Ciobanu, it stars theatre stalwarts Paul Portelli, Liliana Portelli, Pierre Stafrace and Charlotte Grech, with poetry by Immanuel Mifsud.

In the run up to this unique amalgamation of theatre, poetry and cuisine, we ask members of the cast: what makes this piece unique?

1. Pierre Stafrace 

 “A devised production involves a very complex process where all the participants - the director, the performers and the technical artists - all contribute to the development of the whole piece. This requires great team work and an honest sense of respect for each other - when you put forward an idea, you know that it can either be accepted, it can be shot down or it could lead to other ideas which may push the process forward. This production required much more complicated work due to the fact that it is a site-specific performance where we had to deal with the uneven terrain around the salt pans as well as the different elements, from the blistering August heat to the strong winds which regularly hit the Xwejni coastline.”

2. Liliana Portelli

“Although the director had given us a brief idea of the subject of the production, we could not imagine what the performance would be like. We had no text to start off from. The director took a lot of inspiration from improvisation with food, using masks and props. However, it did not come together as a whole until the very last rehearsals. There is a dreadful feeling when you don’t know what the performance will be like, and time really rushes by in the few weeks of rehearsals. With so many unknowns in the production, you have to trust the director blindly and hope that in the final moments all elements will blend to transform all parts into a wonderful whole.”

3. Charlotte Grech

“First of all, one has to mention the brilliant fact of working in a new space that is not traditionally used as a performance space. It is also a pleasure to work and get inspired by a new set of performers and working with a celebrated Romanian director like Nona Ciobanu. The collaborative element is also excellent, and that has been felt from day one. We are such a cohesive group that we feed off each-other’s strengths. A highlight is the space itself: it is such a beautiful sight, despite the mud, rain and other elements.”