Preview: Aldo Brincat’s The Moon Looks Delicious From Here – a theatre play of magical realism and far off places

Preview: Aldo Brincat’s The Moon Looks Delicious From Here – a theatre play of magical realism and far off places- exploring  immigrant family dynamics and how they shape identity and heritage in a first-generation citizen.

Aldo Brincat is a creative who works across multiple genres – including theatre and visual art. He was born and grew up in Durban but has worked extensively abroad. Currently based in the Cape, he is doing a Masters in visual art at the University of Stellenbosch. From March 16-19, 2023, Cape Town audiences will get the opportunity to see him perform in his solo play, The Moon Looks Delicious From Here [TML] directed by Sjaka Septembir. The genesis of TML goes back to January 2022, in Durban, when Brincat presented a 30 minute monologue. This was after Brincat and thespian friends and colleagues, decided to use a family heirloom as the armature for theatres piece about their experiences as first generation South Africans.  After a sold-out performance in Wellington last October [2022], at the Breytenbach Centre, encouraged by his colleagues, Brincat decided to develop the monologue and the result is 70-minute iteration of The Moon Looks Delicious From Here, which is premiering at Theatre Arts in Observatory, Cape Town. Brincat weaves magic, mime, physical performance and narrative to conjure up a story, which is rooted in his own memories and is mostly biographical, but which employs some artistic licence in bringing his story to the stage. It is the beginning of 2023 and March is still a way to go but the venue seating capacity of Theatre Arts is 60 and shows have been selling out, so we thought it would be timely to bring this to the attention of readers. An interview, will follow, soon with Brincat, but in the meantime, here is the information, as supplied:

The Moon Looks Delicious From Here

Written and performed by Aldo Brincat – Directed by Sjaka Septembir

Through the mediums of physical theatre, mime and characterisation, The Moon Looks Delicious From Here, is a 70 minute, one-person theatre show which explores immigrant family dynamics and how they shape identity and heritage in a first-generation citizen.

In this production, the immigrant family is Aldo’s and the adopted “land of opportunity” is South Africa. This mostly autobiographical drama is driven by a loving father and son relationship – each from different eras and motherlands. With aplomb, Brincat plays an array of characters in and around this fragile yet optimistic young nuclear family. Some of the characters are foreign, some local – all of whom are finding (or losing) themselves in the ever-changing political landscape of their new homeland, South Africa.

Language, religion, ambition, sexuality and political leanings are brought into sharp focus as our two lead characters fight off ‘otherness”, while attempting to assert themselves into a volatile new country. Key moments in their lives are juxtaposed against powerful developments in South Africa’s history during the 70s and 80s, and as the effects of apartheid begin to reach boiling point – family ties threaten to fall apart. Though set in Durban, the story is universal in its theme, particularly at this time when the intersectional effects of migrancy are brought increasingly into our consciousness.

✳ Image of Aldo Brincat- supplied.