Citadels of love, of pride, of disarray

SUNDAY TIMES, Malta, August 19th, 2007
By Noemi Zarb

THE FAMILY as haven and bastion knows no cultural barriers. Nor does the strife engendered within that can tear a family apart.

With its riveting stories of patriarchs and matriarchs, the second half of the Book of Genesis provides an uncanny insight into what bonds and breaks families. And though eons of time have passed, the repercussions following the clash of personal demons and social structures are as resonant as ever. The ease with which we can identify with the craving for power, for belonging as well as for love is the lynchpin of the upcoming staging of Björn Potulski’s second episode of his ambitious project retelling the Old Testament through a cycle of 12 scenic-musical productions.

Aptly entitled Lust and Order, it homes in on the archetypical family consisting of seven representative characters: Father, Mother, two brothers (one ever naïve), two sisters (one invariably unhappy) and a femme fatale.

The necessity of such a tight-knit cast is in sharp contrast to the large chorus which dominated the first episode, Creation, and is clearly conceived to highlight the peak moments of each story. “But don’t expect patriarchs in sandals and white capes,” Mr Potulski says. “Neither Abraham’s suffering face in a heart-wrenching dialogue with Isaac about what the knife might mean. Nor are we having sweet sounds underscore a love scene between Jacob and Rachel or any clichés re-enacting the betrayal of Joseph by his brothers.”