Artwork title, Artist name, YYYY

Theatre Productions Support Scheme

Invalid deadline format: June 9, 2026 12:00 pm

Deadline

The deadline to apply is June 9, 2026 at

12:00 pm.

Late applications will not be accepted.

apply now

The Theatre Productions Support Scheme forms part of Arts Council Malta’s support portfolio, investing in theatre practice, production, and audience development within Malta’s cultural and creative sectors. The scheme enables individuals, groups, and organisations to plan, develop, be represented in, and deliver artistic projects in line with ACM’s Strategy 2030 – primarily addressing communities and creative practitioners.

The scheme aims to support the objectives of Strategy 2030 by actively seeking to:

  • Nurture theatre-makers and support their development, encouraging co-creation, collaboration, and experimentation within theatre practice;
  • Invest in theatrical excellence by encouraging creative risk taking, experimentation, and active engagement with communities while supporting quality productions and processes, as well as identifying talent and encouraging its development;
  • Promote and support diversity, inclusivity, and community development, while enabling collaborative environments , knowledge development, and dissemination of good practice;
  • Provide disadvantaged groups with accessibility to a wide range of theatre experiences and opportunities for meaningful engagement through theatre;
  • Facilitate the creation of platforms for young promising talent, intergenerational engagement, as well as intercultural engagement through theatre.

Applications submitted may:

  • Form part of a wider project/body of work;
  • Be self-contained projects;
  • Consist of a series of projects within a programme of activities.

This scheme comprises two main areas of focus, each subdivided into types of activities. Applicants may choose to focus on one or more of these areas or types of activities within their theatre projects:

  1. Theatre practice and production, namely:

    – The development, creation, rehearsal, production, presentation, and touring of quality-driven theatre work which expands how theatre is made and experienced by artists, practitioners, audiences, and communities;
  2. Projects relating to Malta’s theatre communities, designed to document, preserve, reinterpret or critically engage with Malta’s theatrical legacy in an open and sustainable manner. Audience and community engagement, namely:

    – Theatre projects and/or programming which enable and promote participation, creative expression, and/or awareness and appreciation relating to collective memory and the theatrical and cultural life of the community;
    – Exploration of participatory and innovative approaches to the use of new spaces and audience engagement, aimed at developing immersive experiences and deepening engagement with both existing and new audiences through theatre practice and/or research;
    – Exploration of ways to improve access to theatre, and to promote inclusive participation and greater diversity within theatre.

This scheme provides support to theatre-makers, producers, companies, registered cooperatives, voluntary organisations, and communities throughout the development and implementation phases, and covers the time and resources needed for research, development, rehearsal, production, presentation, and audience engagement. Furthermore, the scheme aims to invest in the research and development phase for which applicants are to dedicate a minimum of Euro 10,000 from the grant to support the initial creative process.

In line with its commitment to supporting the arts through sustainable and accountable approach to public investment:

Applicants are encouraged to give due consideration, as appropriate, to the principles explained in the Right to Culture – Resource Pack when developing their proposal in relation to how they engage with collaborators, audiences, participants, and communities through theatre practice.

Applicants are also expected to give due consideration, as appropriate, to the main principles outlined in the Charter for the Status of the Artist when proposing their operational and programming activities within the framework of theatre practice and production.

Applicants under this scheme must qualify as one of the following:

  • Creative professionals/individual artists;
  • Entities registered with the Malta Business Registry (including companies, partnerships, foundations, and organisations/associations);
  • Groups, collectives, and consortia;
  • Registered cooperatives;
  • Voluntary organisations enrolled with the Commissioner for Voluntary

 

The scheme has two options: a state aid option and a non-state aid option. Kindly refer to Section 9 of these guidelines and regulations for information regarding the applicability of state aid rules to applicants/projects.

Click here to download the guidelines and click here to download the applications template.

Application deadline: 9th June at noon

Rank Order

Beneficiary: The New Victorians

Reference number: TPS56-26-9355

Project Title: Tingo: The Tuneless Bird

Amount awarded: €60,000

The creation of a new, original, multi-lingual musical, featuring large-scale puppets and an ensemble of 6 actor musicians. A family show dealing with the themes of Migration, Integration and the Environment. Join music-making birds as they share their aviation adventures and attempt to discover the truth about where Tingo: The Tuneless Bird really came from, and why there’s no way he can ever go back. With Music and Concept Creation by The New Victorians, Puppets by Matthew Pandolfino, Set Design by Matthew Cassar, and an original script by Erin Carter, this promises to be a unique theatrical experience for all the family, premiering as part of Ziguzajg International Children’s Festival 2027. The research and development process will be facilitated by community coordinators Dance Beyond Borders, with the support of The Archbishops Delegate of Culture. The premiere will be accompanied by a cast album recording and educational resource pack.

 

Beneficiary: Angela Bettoni

Reference number: Development and Staging of “Inner Demons” (working title)

Project Title: TPS44-26-9329

Amount awarded: €59,779

Angela is a performer, writer and advocate with Down Syndrome. The project covers the R&D and production of Inner Demons, a performance based on her original script. The R&D phase will explore audiovisual techniques and movement for storytelling as the script contains a lot of physical theatre/dance after Angela realized this would make it more accessible for performers with disabilities. Her key collaborators are Suzanne Lofthus from Cutting Edge Theatre Scotland (Director), Douglas Comley (choreographer), disabled artist Aristide Rontini (guest choreographer), and Benji Cachia (music). The project is among the first to stage a fictional work by a writer with Down Syndrome, who will also play a lead role. It will give Angela a platform to present her work and perform, while developing early directing skills. The project also aims to increase opportunities for other young performers with learning disabilities to train and perform in a mixed-ability setting.

 

Beneficiary: Benjamin Abela

Reference number: TPS19-26-9194

Project Title: KONTRAKURRENT

Amount awarded: €31,721

Set in an alternate Malta, KONTRAKURRENT (Working Title) follows two brothers caught in the wake of EXCO – a multinational energy conglomerate dismantling the country’s fuel monopoly whilst greenwashing its image overseas via a carbon-capture pipeline. Rex, a radicalised former fuel tank cleaner, and JP, a lawyer in search of a fresh start away from home, embody two responses to the same crisis: resistance and escape. Their stories, though set a year apart, unfold simultaneously on stage, allowing the work to make its key arguments about the (im)possibility of overpowering systemic forces both dramatically and structurally. Developed in partnership with Friends of the Earth Malta, the production is supported by activist-embedded development workshops, insights from climate professionals, and significant desk research. The process will also include eco-anxiety workshops aimed at young activists, a post-show panel discussion, and surtitled performances for both Deaf and non-Maltese speaking audiences.

 

Beneficiary: Culture Venture

Reference number: TPS40-26-9315

Project Title: Tal-Ostralja

Amount awarded: €60,000

Tal-Ostralja is a phased documentary theatre project exploring Maltese-Australian intergenerational migration through women’s lived experiences and oral testimony. Rooted in questions around identity – why we preserve certain fragments of culture, and why leaving home can be both rupture and liberation – the project gathers testimonies from diaspora communities in Melbourne, where over 80,000 people identify Maltese ancestry. Taking women as its primary point of entry, the research attends to the domestic interior as a living archive: objects, rituals, and language preserving fragments of a homeland that has already changed. The work develops a dramaturgy in which translation between languages, generations, memory and invention becomes a theatrical device.

Across three phases from September 2026 to April 2028, the production premieres in Malta, designed as a tourable work capable of travelling to Australia and beyond.

 

Beneficiary: Jean Paul Mifsud

Reference number: TPS37-26-9303

Project Title: Xummiemu – the musical

Amount awarded: €60,000

Xummiemu: Il-Musical is a new Maltese family theatre production that reimagines one of Malta’s most recognisable environmental characters through puppetry, original music and contemporary storytelling. The story follows an ageing Xummiemu as he struggles to find relevance in a rapidly changing world. When a younger environmental figure, Xumi, emerges as the voice of a new generation, both characters embark on a journey that explores memory, identity, legacy and environmental responsibility. Developed through a collaboration between Jean Paul Mifsud, Teatru Malta and the Gozo International Puppet Festival, the project combines large-scale puppetry, live performance and original music to create an accessible theatrical experience for children, families and adult audiences. The production aims to contribute to the development of Maltese theatre and puppetry while creating a contemporary work rooted in local cultural memory and intergenerational dialogue.

 

Beneficiary: Brandon Terribile

Reference number: TPS09-26-9103

Project Title: The Things They Never Taught Us

Amount awarded: €40,000

The Things They Never Taught Us is an original immersive sensory thriller set in Malta in the early 2000s.

Sammy is sixteen, on the autism spectrum, and determined to prove he can live independently. But when he leaves the safety of home, he is thrust into a world far more dangerous and unpredictable than he ever imagined. Armed only with the life lessons taught to him by his former teacher, Claire, Sammy must navigate unfamiliar environments, threatening encounters, and situations where every decision could mean the difference between safety and disaster. As the risks around him escalate, his journey for independence becomes a fight for survival. Through immersive staging, projection, sound, movement, and sensory storytelling, audiences experience the world through Sammy’s perspective in a gripping story of resilience, courage, and the instinct to survive.

 

Beneficiary: Anthony Vassallo

Reference number: Giga

Project Title: TPS42-26-9322

Amount awarded: €48,000

GIGA – Il-Qtil tas-Seklu is a new Maltese theatrical production inspired by Raymond G. Zammit’s acclaimed publication Giga: Ħamsin Sena Wara (1960–2010). The production revisits one of Malta’s most infamous murder cases.

The production transforms historical documentation, personal testimonies and archival research into a compelling theatrical experience that explores themes of truth, justice, memory and public perception. Developed by producers Carlos Farrugia and Tonio Vassallo, scriptwriter Lon Chircop, director Joseph Galea, stage designer Pierre Portelli and production manager Josue Formosa, the project combines artistic excellence with historical authenticity. The creative process is supported by consultant Carmen Aquilina, daughter of Giga, historical consultant Fabian Demicoli and legal consultant Dr. Anthea D’Anastas. Through innovative staging, audience engagement initiatives and the proposed use of English surtitles, the production aims to reach diverse audiences while contributing to Malta’s cultural and theatrical landscape.

 

Beneficiary: Jamie Cardona

Reference number: TPS60-26-9362

Project Title: ĠENERAZZJONI TA’ MEQRUDIN / Il-JUKEBOX MUSICAL TAL-IXTRUPPAW

Amount awarded: €60,000

ĠENERAZZJONI TA MEQRUDIN is an original Maltese-language jukebox musical.

Built around the songs, sound and cultural legacy of Maltese rock group Xtruppaw, who are credited for a rebirth of Maltese music, the production will create a completely new story rather than a concert or biography. Xtruppaw’s repertoire will drive its plot, characters, conflict, humour and emotional development.

Rooted in contemporary Malta, the musical will explore science fiction, socio-political realities of malta, masculinity, nostalgia and social conformity. Its theatrical language will combine Maltese alternative-rock energy with the scale and dramatic architecture of musical theatre.

Developed through research, ensmemble work, workshops with the band, readings and musical experimentation, the production will welcome existing Xtruppaw followers while remaining fully accessible to audiences encountering the band’s music for the first time.

 

Beneficiary: Tyrone Grima

Reference number: TPS05-26-9008

Project Title: Kwir Ester

Amount awarded: €20,500

This project is a theatre production based on the Book of Esther in the Old Testament, with inclusion and diversity at its heart. Gender queer or genderfluid actors will play the eunuchs in the play, who were considered as a third-gender in Persian culture. Hence, the cast will be of a mixed identity, with performers who identify as cisgender (playing cisgender roles), performers who identify as genderqueer (playing genderqueer roles), performers who identify as queer, and others who identify as straight. Camp and cross-dressing are also pivotal aspects of this project. The project will also include workshops on the methodology of queering the Bible.

 

 

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