Abortion remains one of Malta’s greatest taboos, but the debate has slowly opened up, spurred in part by one of the first public calls for its legalisation in a position paper by the Women’s Rights Foundation.
So it may say something about the current state of play that the issue is for the first time set to hit the theatre, with a script by a Maltese author depicting the real experiences of Maltese people from both sides of the debate.
Written and directed by Herman Grech (who is also the Times of Malta’s digital editor) De-terminated, opening on October 19 at Spazju Kreattiv, draws from interviews with people who went through the abortion experience, as well as activists from both the pro-life and pro-choice lobbies.
The stories, presented without fictional embellishment in a documentary format, range from a girl who explains why she chose to have an abortion after she was raped, to the man who forced his partner to terminate and is nowadays an anti-abortion advocate.
For Mr Grech – who stresses that his script doesn’t take sides – the play is an opportunity to break the silence and prompt discussion.
“We don’t know how to discuss difficult issues in this country: it goes from…
