History is like Gods Playing the Hesse's Glass Bead consciousness Game with Pythagoras
Mathematics is described as the science of pattern and music as the art of pattern, both using meditation within the process of contemplation developing own language of symbols.
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1881 brings together an impressive array of talent from local theatre, storytelling, and game design, with each piece of the experience working seamlessly to draw the audience in. The show balances immersion with voyeurism, making you feel both like a participant and an observer — like a puppeteer manipulating the strings, while also being the marionette caught in its dance. Its exploration of Malta's past dependence on external forces resonates with the characters’ own struggles, offering a sensory journey that's as much about reflection as it is about emotional engagement. It’s truly an unforgettable ride.
1881, an immersive theatre experience by Teatru Malta, isn’t your typical theatre outing. The production takes place in a crumbling mansion, Villa Bologna, and presents an alternative version of Malta in 1881 — where time and space warp, history is reinterpreted, and the apocalypse looms. This review will try to balance the intricate elements of the show while hinting at its historical echoes, without spoiling too much of the experience. The delight lies in the unexpected, in discovering hidden corners of the narrative, and making choices that will ultimately shape your journey.
The show kicks off with a masquerade ball, set in a Malta stricken by a deadly plague. Participants are given masks and cloaks, entering a world where the island’s fate mirrors its historical past: dependent on external sources for survival, yet grappling with the forces of scarcity, control, and power. The situation is dire — this is not just a celebration but the last hours before an inevitable end.
Much like how Malta’s population in centuries past relied heavily on imported grain for survival, the characters in 1881 face an impending collapse of their own world, fighting against forces beyond their control. The idea of scarcity and dependence is deeply embedded in the production, reflecting Malta’s own historical dependence on outside forces for sustenance during the Knights of St. John era and later under British rule.
As in the real Malta of the 18th and 19th centuries, where the Grandmaster controlled the wheat trade and the Università was both a supplier and a regulator, the world of 1881 is defined by its restrictive systems and the desperate, often conflicting choices made by those trapped within them. Will you surrender to hedonism, like Mistress Mari, or cling to science and hope for a future? The audience is invited to make choices, to immerse themselves in the world’s intricate webs — just as the Maltese citizens of the past were caught between the control of their rulers and the uncertainty of their external dependencies.
The Experience: Interactive, Immersive, and Unpredictable
After donning my robe and mask, I entered the mansion and immediately felt the weight of the atmosphere, a delicate blend of historical tension and surrealist fantasy.
The beauty of this production lies in the unpredictability of the vignettes that unfold before you. Each part of the house offers a new chapter of the narrative, with different characters performing rituals, quests, or disturbing acts. The narrative is non-linear, so each participant will have a different journey. I deliberately avoided aligning with any one faction, choosing instead to infiltrate every scene I could. This approach, like the Maltese population’s historical choice between hedonism or survival under foreign control, allowed me to witness the dramatic tension between the characters as they navigated their fates.
The Performances:
The Survivor (Nicholas Jackman): Jackman’s performance was one of the most unnerving. His intensity as a character driven by survival instincts, constantly on edge, was palpable. The tension between this character’s actions and the world around him made for an incredibly engaging experience. Like the Maltese of the past, Jackman’s character was constantly at the mercy of forces beyond his control.
Will, The Deathseeker (Christian Scicluna): Scicluna’s portrayal was both commanding and vulnerable. I spent a lot of time with his character, trying to unravel the puzzle he presented. His struggles also mirrored Malta’s struggle against its overwhelming external dependencies and the inescapable forces shaping its destiny.
Eve, The Spiritual (Sandie von Brockdorff): Von Brockdorff’s portrayal of Eve is particularly striking. Her character, dedicated to the idea of salvation and prayer, navigates a world full of moral conflict. Her character's uncompromising faith could be seen as an echo of Malta’s historical struggle for stability and its faith-driven resistance to external forces.
The Humanist (Becky Camilleri): Camilleri’s character is one of moral balance, offering an alternative to the more extreme factions at play. The subtleties in her performance added to the richness of the world, suggesting a more reasoned approach to the chaos unfolding around her.
Mistress Mari (Silvana Maimone): As the hedonist, Maimone embodies the immersive theatre experience, keeping her character alive and grounded in a world of decadence, even as it crumbles around her. Her performance brings to mind the Maltese dependency on external resources — her pleasures, too, are fleeting, tied to the fragile state of the world.
The test subject (Ema Pantovic): Pantovic’s performance in the final scenes of 1881 was haunting. Her character’s madness, resulting from cruel experimentation, was a stark reflection of Malta’s historical connection to slavery and its tragic legacies. Her uncompromising resistance to the world around her mirrored the struggle of enslaved people fighting for autonomy, and her actions at the climax sent a chilling reminder of the pain caused by oppressive forces. Her performance acted as a disturbing counterpoint to the other characters' quests for meaning and survival.
The remaining characters — The Butler (Philip Leone Ganado), The Maid (Michela Farrugia), and The Doorkeeper (Marija Grech) — act as the guides, leading the audience through the experience and providing a sense of structure in the otherwise disorienting world.
What Worked: Craft, Detail, and Immersive Magic
There is so much to love about 1881 that it's hard to know where to begin. The costumes (designed by Luke Dimech) and set design (by Sven Bonnici) were exquisite — each room felt like a new world unto itself. The small, quirky details, from the props to the faintly sinister aromas in the air, created an immersive experience that fully transported me to another time and place.
The sound design (by Yasmin Kuymizakis) and lighting (by Toni Gialanzé) were masterfully executed. The soundscapes, particularly during the quiet, reflective moments in the garden with Eve, heightened the sense of being lost in another dimension, while the lighting added layers of mystery and tension. The blending of these elements made the experience feel deeply tactile and real.
At no point did I feel like I could predict what would happen next. Just like Malta’s historical vulnerability to external forces, 1881 thrives on its unpredictability, forcing you to adapt, question, and make choices.
Remembering Daniel Kahneman (Author of Thinking Fast and Slow)
Daniel Kahneman, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his work in psychology has died. His ideas have had a profound impact on many fields. Thinking, Fast and Slow, from Kahneman explains the two systems that drive the way we think: System 1 is fast, intuitive, and emotional; System 2 is slower, more deliberative, and more logical. Kahneman exposes the fast thinking as prone to mistakes. The difficulties of predicting and factors that shape our judgments and decisions.
Thinking, Fast and Slow | Daniel Kahneman | Talks at Googlevideo
As Malta approaches another Equinox, or Eastern, University ensures that the programme of events celebrate Woman’s Day with a cultural twist. The spring season brings another Conference entitled: ‘Different perspectives on women in the arts'.
The women’s activists fought for women’s right to work, to vote, and to have equal access to education. In 1882 in England, women were for the first time allowed to keep their own earnings, and were allowed into Oxford or Cambridge University much later. Change came at a snail’s pace.
We examined the fascination Oriental art and life in the Middle East held for European artists. What appears to have been a ‘golden cage’ carried an unusual amount of freedom. Oriental interiors, depicted usually in Constantinople (Istanbul) hid pictures of exotic, colourful Oriental carpets, servants bringing in entertainment, and the naked women bathing or resting on the carpets or sofas seemingly perfectly content.
However, in Europe women’s natural place was in the home, where she is protected from all danger and temptation. The man guards the woman from all, within his house. A luxurious enclosed life did not refer to a working class or a village women cultivating lands, or slaving away surrounded by many kids in a house with no electricity, no running water, with heavy loads to carry.
The pictures do say a lot more about male fantasies than the reality of life in a harem. Ottoman Princess Senila Sultan in a letter to her friend says: ‘The things they make up about us are unimaginable. They believe that we are slaves that we are shut up in chambers and left to die. We live in our cages, dressed in costumes of pink and light green satin and dance and sing songs, and even pipes of opium.’
This event was introduced by Dr Charlene Vella (Department of Art and Art History), and chaired by paintings conservator Rachel Vella. Dr Mark Sagona (Head of Department) delivered a welcoming note. Papers on varying topics on women in the arts were presented by Art History graduates Rachel Abdilla, Nadette Xuereb, Hannah Dowling, Fine Arts graduate Marie Claire Farrugia and textile conservator Leyre Quevedo Bayona.
Our body is like a tree, it roots itself spreading high and its fruit, an apple rots when it is hit. And we are all fully aware how the life-force within teenagers can hit hard and frequently. Patches can spread so quickly within our-own minds that we have a feeling that the hit will take the whole apple if we do not react consciously. Likewise our mental health can easily be weakened by the stress a family passes through during the time of exams when our teens find it extremly hard to stop and concentrate - in a hedonistic sunny society offering lots of safe and free fun for teens, foreigners, English students.
Both Yogananda and Krishnamurti refer to mind as the toughest elephant to contain. The Christianity too offer sucrifice as a solution to the lives of individuals, helping refugees that have been stripped away from families, loved ones, and from their own support structure.
The Qawra school, the Maltese President in her openning speach Dr Marie Louise Colero Preca has mentioned, now has 56 nationalities. Handling such diverse and multinational environment can at certain moments be extremly difficult, when our day to day lives are impacted, can we go back to positivity? The English studies have shown that One in Four people will need mental health support throughout a given year. Usualy young men. Kids are sometimes suicidal at the age of 9. Therefore, we as English and Maltese community, need to strive as nations, to make mental health services accessible to all, dealing with mental health not mental illness.
The group discussion and workshops have come back with a similar message: make Mental Health (not Illness) for all a global priority, empowering teachers and individuals.
Irrespective of age, the solution should not be further medication, but awareness that to avoid the human-contact we separate from each other. Mental health should reach everybody. In a holistic environment local NGOs and Local Concils should include family members in a healing and supporting environment, a walk, a dance, a shared meal. It is solidarity with all and sensitivity to all, that are common targets that our society must address.
If mental health or mindfulness is at your heart, you could be a young leader, able to implement it or drive various initiatives.
What happens when you find a perfect note? What happens when you experience Samadhi listening to the perfect sound or observing a perfect painting? What happens when your consciousness expand to such an extend that it is blessed by divine, unexplainable, most subtle beauty?
Your Highest Potential is Waiting Blessing Poem by Natasa Pantovic
At a music concert of Armenian State Orchestra of around a 100 talented and for decades trained musicians a Master violinist took us to this magic state.
A grand piano recital of one of the best world pianist Grigory Sokolov entitled "The Legend is Back" took us onto a 3 hours journey through Haydn's sonatas and finished with 5 encores at midnight. While on this "single man on a piano" marathon, we as his audience stopped breathing with every pause he performed. He mastered his and the energy of entire Conference Centre crowd, taking us into the higher states of consciousness...