Steffi T.

July 13, 2015July 13, 2015

Another 2 done!

I’m finally able to write something about my experiences on 2 great productions!

1. 13 Hours – Michael Bay

I got the most amazing opportunity to take part in Michael Bay’s latest movie along side some amazing actors! It was a once in a lifetime opportunity to work with him and I do hope that more movies come my way in the future. Being on a set is addictive! You get terribly starry-eyed, which is very difficult to put aside – you just want to chase your dreams even more after an experience like that!

I also got to work along side some incredible Maltese talent that I had not had the opportunity to get to know in the past. Some incredible people, with big hearts and huge, contagious smiles that I really miss now that it’s all over. Not to mention all the great crew I got to know and meet along the way as well – both local and foreign. It was one of the best experiences of my life and I will not be forgetting it any time soon.

Here’s the IMDB listing for the movie. Check it! I’m listed there! 😀

2. Jack and His Beanstalk – Steve Hili

Yes, another great, hilarious and very successful show written and directed by the one and only – Steve Hili. We had a fantastic run, got to open another night after selling out 2 shows and performing to full houses and most people loved the show! I say ‘most people’, if you don’t know Steve’s writing you can either love it or hate it. I believe that Steve writes about things that people are afraid to laugh about and we need more of that in this country. We are so uptight sometimes.

I am happy to say that I got to work with people I’d already worked with before and people who I didn’t. People who I love and who inspire me. Supportive friends and ridiculously talented people all round.

We didn’t get a good crit in the Times, however, that is just one person’s opinion! The rest of the audiences loved the show and that’s the most important thing to take on board when something like that happens. What did most of the audience think of it? If they didn’t like the show then that’s too bad! Other people will love it 🙂 And they did!

Now! To work on my Diploma and the next production in October: A HANDBAG – directed by Andy Smith. Look out for us!

May 20, 2015May 20, 2015

Next up … SUMMER PANTO!

After a couple of months working on other projects that have yet to be released … I will soon being working on Steve Hili’s Summer Panto: Jack and His Beanstalk. I know what you’re thinking … “shouldn’t it be ‘Jack and THE Beanstalk’?” No … it’s ‘HIS Beanstalk’, because this is Steve Hili and dirty things are implied.

I will be working along side some of Malta’s top comedians including: Pia Zammit, Colin Fitz, Chiara Hyzler, PJ Xerxen, Maxine Aquilina, Naomi Said and Joe Depasquale. We will be performing at the University Theatre (Sir Temi Zammit Hall) on the 4th and 11th July! You can book your tickets from www.ticketline.com.mt. Here’s our FB event page for more info. JAHB

Book your tickets NOW because they’re selling pretty quickly! That could also have something to do with the fact that there’s a super amazing Early Bird offer on until the end of May where you can buy 2 tickets and get the 3rd one free! So find a couple a be their third wheel for the night! And if you already are part of a couple … then find another 2 couples and get 2 free tickets instead of just 1! It’s called MATHS! 😀

Hope to see you all there! 🙂 xx

P.S. here’s the video for the first music video I’ve ever done. Enjoy!

March 28, 2015February 13, 2021

Anxiety on Stage

A friend of mine suggested talking about my experience with anxiety and sharing it on my blog.

I was not too keen on the idea at first but I figure that it might help anyone else who suffers from it.

During the last few productions, namely Merry Poppins and I’ll Be Back Before Midnight, my anxiety decided to play up a little. Thankfully, it was never during a performance. I’m not sure that I can have an anxiety attack during a performance because I’m not ‘me’ on stage. I’m a completely different person …

Anxiety is a mental thing. I get panic attacks when I become stressed and anxious and agitated. It builds up a kind of fire in my tummy and I feel my breathing becoming shallower and shallower. Thankfully, I have now identified when a panic attack is going to come on so I’ve taught myself to stop what I am doing and just breathe. Deeply. A friend of mine told me that anxiety is just “the body not being able to breathe properly”. I completely understood what she meant.

I also have some pills which I take, prescribed by my GP, for when I feel an anxiety attack coming on. They were prescribed to me in October 2014 and I’ve not even finished a full sachet of them. I was told I should take them when I feel I need to but no more than 3 a day. I have done just that and they really do help. They’re called Stresam and my doctor said they work more in the way a muscle relaxant would. Not like the hardcore anti-depressant drugs a psychiatrist would prescribe. Far from it.

I prefer not to take them and I try my best to regulate my breathing when I feel it coming on but sometimes it doesn’t work so I take one and I feel better in about 10 minutes. Taking long, deep breaths works for me and trying to mentally tell myself to relax. I also, weirdly, found that a massage or a slow tickle helps too. I’ve often asked my partner to stroke the palm of my hand lightly when I feel anxious. It works because it relaxes me.

I had the opportunity to help a girl during our panto last year. She was having an anxiety attack and crying and breathing very shallowly. Someone brought a paper bag to her – something I don’t believe in at all. I got rid of the paper bag, asked people to leave, sat her down and started rubbing and massaging her back and telling her to relax in a very low tone. I asked her to slowly try and take deep breaths and she calmed down very quickly. It felt really nice to be able to help someone who has the same problem I do.

I mentioned in a previous blog that during Merry Poppins I had a small anxiety attack when trying to get into my costume with my partner for the first time. We were stuck together and it was not the most comfortable thing. We shared a skirt and there was very little room to move around. I had to take one of my Stresam pills that day but that was the first and last time I took it during rehearsal because I got used to it after that.

During I’ll Be Back Before Midnight was a different story though. The rehearsal period was very stressful for me. Having to put myself in such an intense situation, and being so scared all the time – lots of shallow breathing. It would give me tension headaches and I needed to go to a doctor who told me to try and take more of my Stresam pills than I usually would. So I was taking one a day for a short while until the rehearsal period was over. I was considering going to see a psychologist but my partner, my voice of reason, suggested to wait until the show was over. He was right. It went away like nothing ever happened once the run was over.

When getting into the play I didn’t realise that it would affect me so much. I don’t regret it. On the contrary, I feel like immersing myself in the role and into the situation might have made my performance better albeit with some slight physical consequences. Now I can say that my skills to deal with my own anxiety have improved and I am more equipped to deal with it in the future.

One thing I want to say is this: if you know someone who suffers from anxiety, do try to help them relax, don’t blow it out of proportion and don’t dismiss them either. Both things will make the anxiety worse. It is a state of mental unrest of varying degrees and shouldn’t be taken lightly no matter how little or how much it affects them.

As Ellen DeGeneres says: Be kind to one another.

February 27, 2015May 20, 2015

The Vagina Monologues

Coming up next for me, as part of Palazzo Periera’s suit of events in celebration of Women’s Day, is The Vagina Monologues written by Eve Ensler, directed by Nanette Brimmer.

I can’t say I’m doing the monologues … that would be Julia Calvert, Paula Fleri-Soler, Faye Paris and Nicky Schembri who do an absolutely brilliant job of it. I will just be appearing out of nowhere and performing a small monologue called ‘My Short Skirt’. I’m very happy with it and I’m very happy to be even the tiniest part in this production.

The message throughout is that women should embrace and love and defend their bodies…”to love our vaginas…to be familiar with who we are and what we need….to satisfy ourselves….to speak of them out loud, to make them visible so they cannot be ravaged in the dark without great consequence…. so that they are no longer detached, mutilated… invisible, or ashamed”

Details of the show below and if you’re still not sure you’d like to come, read the Variety Review below.

You will laugh, cry, and maybe even feel slightly awkward, but I guarantee, that as a woman, you will relate to at least ONE thing that is said on stage and you will sympathise and feel more for the women that the monologues represent than you ever thought you could. And as a man? You will get an idea of the things that we feel, think, love and hate about our vaginas. The kind of thing that we sometimes feel awkward discussing with you … I think it will be an eye-opener for you. You should definitely come and watch it.

Book NOW – www.ticketline.com.mt – Online Ticketing Malta or in person from The Embassy Cinemas Valletta. Tickets are €12 each.

“Spellbindingly funny and almost unbearably moving…a startling piece of theatre…it does raise one’s consciousness – but then so does most good art. It rubs the funny bone, sometimes gently, sometimes violently. It alternately warms and saddens the heart. It occasionally shocks the sensibility, it sears the soul, it deserves to be a sell-out on wildfire word of mouth. An indelible theatrical experience, which is both a work of art, an incisive piece of cultural history, a poem and a polemic, a performance and a balm and a benediction.” (Variety Review – The Vagina Monologues)

February 9, 2015May 20, 2015

I’ll Be Back Before Midnight – Audience Comments

Here are some lovely comments from the audience members of our first 3 nights:

“Saw it yester. Well done to all the actors and the production team especially to the leading lady and director. At times it felt like a comedy but the scares were real!”

“Watched a great thriller story, staged at MADC Clubrooms last night. We all love that element of mystery that has us jumping off our seats, it truly is one not to be missed, I highly recommend you book for next weekend if you haven’t yet …Well Done Colin Azzopardi, Steffi Thake, Joe Depasquale, Gianni Selvaggi & Becky d’Ugo!! Break legs for the rest of the run:)”

“A massive well done to Steffi Thake, Joe Depasquale and Gianni Selvaggi for their incredible performance in I’ll Be Back Before Midnight. I only watched half of it for having my hands over my eyes, and I won’t be able to sleep tonight, but that was just outstanding. So so so so proud of you all.”

“Fantastic!!! Well done to all”

“Amazing performance!! Kept me on the edge of my seat. Bravi!!”

“Watched the performance on Friday and what a brilliant show, well done to all involved. Excellent set, strong performance and excellent direction kept me jumping off my seat”

“Really enjoyed yesterday’s show!!! Bravi tassew!!”

“Well done! Watched the performance last Friday, really enjoyed it!”

“HIGHLY RECOMMENDED high calibre play from MADC which was a total EXPERIENCE to watch! Not to be missed… And try to sit as close to the stage as possible”

“I must congratulate the cast on a spectacular performance yesterday; The play was executed brilliantly! This was the first play I watched from MADC, but it will definitely not be the last! Thank you”

“Great show … witty humour and engaging suspense! Very well interpreted by the cast and masterfully directed by Colin Azzopardi! Well done … all involved!!!!”

You can catch the last 3 shows of I’ll Be Back Before Midnight this weekend (13th, 14th and 15th February) at the MADC Clubrooms in Santa Venera!

Tickets are available online: www.madc.com.mt and bookings by phone on 7777 6232 This line is open between 10am and 6pm

February 4, 2015May 20, 2015

Time for some motivation …

Why do I act?

It’s my therapy. I forget everything when I’m doing it … I forget I’m sick, that my leg hurts, that my relative passed away, that I’m having a rough time at my day job … everything. I’m not me anymore, I’m someone else for a short while. It’s quite an escape.

I love to hear an audiences reaction. I want to go on a stage or behind a camera and leave an impression on someone. Even if it is just one person … I’ve done my job. Touching someone’s heart and making them feel something, anything, is why I do it.

It’s challenging. I’m so grateful for every opportunity that comes my way. I love to find a challenge in every role. Something new that I didn’t do before. It’s worked so far. But then again I haven’t done much yet. I have much to learn. That’s another thing … I learn something new every role I play; whether it’s about myself or about the craft. There’s always something to learn.

It’s something I know I’m not terrible at. There are so many things that I’ve failed at doing in life. Things that I was picked on for. I’ve finally found the place where I belong. Where I can keep growing and learning and meeting new people and figuring out who I am and what I’m all about. And meeting and working with great people while doing it 🙂

The actors below also answered the question perfectly for me …

January 19, 2015January 19, 2015

I’ll Be Back Before Midnight!

by Peter Colley

Directed by Colin Azzopardi

FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1385170341787751/?pnref=story

MADC kicks off with its Playhouse productions at the Clubrooms in Santa Venera with a spine-chilling mixture of suspense and shocks, with just the right amount of comedy added in I’ll Be Back Before Midnight ‘written by Peter Colley and directed by Colin Azzopardi.

After several months in hospital following a nervous breakdown, Jan, Steffi Thake, is brought to an isolated farmhouse by her husband Greg, Gianni Selvaggi, ostensibly to complete her recovery. But unsettling things start to happen almost as soon as they arrive. First, Greg’s sister Laura, Becky D’Ugo, with whom he seems to have an unnaturally close relationship, arrives, much to Jan’s dismay. There is also George, Joe Depasquale, the rather strange and slightly demented old farmer who lives nearby. And then there are the flickering lights, the mysterious heartbeats, the hand in the window, the blood on the floor… A nightmare of frightening occurrences results in a thrilling and heart-stopping ending which will leave your audiences gasping!

Peter Colley’s THRILLER COMEDY has been produced in 29 countries including Munich, Germany at the famous Theatre Blutenburg where it ran for many months in a German translation, in the U.S., Ireland, Jamaica, South Africa and Australia, Nairobi, Kenya, New Zealand and a National Tour of Britain including the world famous Cambridge Footlights theatre.

I’ll Be Back Before Midnight runs for two weekends at the MADC Playhouse; 6th, 7th 8th and 13th, 14th, 15th February. Tickets at €10 for the first night and at €15 for the following performances. Doors open at 7pm.

Tickets are available online: www.madc.com.mt and bookings by phone on +356 7777 6232 This line is open between 10am and 6pm.

January 5, 2015May 20, 2015

Next Up …

The Christmas Panto has come and gone! It was a fantastic experience working with so many new people and such talent!

Working with Malcolm Galea is always a privilege. It was my first time being directed by him and I am very grateful for the opportunity he has given me. I look forward to working with him again!

Working with Chiara, my partner in crime, was also quite the experience. Having to work so physically close to someone and to think as half of a person was quite the challenge. Being so restricted in our costume was quite challenging as well. I almost had a couple of panic attacks because of the claustrophobia, but thankfully Chiara was there to calm me down. I think we made a great team and I will miss working with her.

Next up I am working on a play written by Peter Colley called I’ll Be Back Before Midnight. I’ll be playing the part of Jan, a young woman who has just come out of a mental hospital after having a nervous breakdown. She moves to live in the country with her husband when strange things start to happen around her.

Our director is Colin Azzopardi and the play is being produced by the MADC. Click here for more information!

Booking for this play opens on the 12th January and will be running over 2 weekends: 06 – 08 February and 13 – 15 February. The first night is selling at a discount of €10 per ticket. All other tickets are at €15.

Hope to see you there! 🙂

December 22, 2014May 20, 2015

Thoughts from the Audience