The cutting-edge theatre company has launched a crowdfunding campaign to finance its first publication: a bilingual book about its history and modern theatre.
Unifaun Theatre Productions, a Maltese avant-garde theatre company that defied all taboos during its 19 years of operation, is raising funds through crowdfunding platform Zaar to publish a 600-page book.
Unifaun – Teatru Mod Iehor (A Different Kind of Theatre) will be written in both Maltese and English and will carry stunning photography of the company’s many theatrical productions. The book, edited by Trevor Zahra, will cover Unifaun’s history, and contain several essays on theatre in Malta as well as critical reviews of each of the company’s productions. It will also feature the theatre company’s 2009 legal battle against both the State and the church after the (now defunct) Censorship Board banned the play STITCHING from being performed. That particular case effectively sounded the death knell for theatrical and artistic censorship in Malta.
Publishing a book of this standard is costly, and Unifaun have turned to the Zaar crowdfunding platform to raise the capital needed.
by Brad Birch
Teatru Malta and Unifaun Theatre Productions
National Stadium, Ta; Qali
Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi
“Zaar is the only reward-based crowdfunding platform in Malta, and it has helped many projects come to fruition over the past six years,” says Matthew Caruana, Zaar manager. “Traditionally, projects which required an initial investment turned to banks for financing, but crowdfunding platforms like Zaar now provide an easy alternative. By collecting small amounts of money from a large number of backers, individuals or startups can not only raise the funds needed for their project to take off, but they also gain supporters and, possibly, early customers for their product.”
Backers of this particular project can donate any amount between €5 and €3,500 that will entitle them to rewards, ranging from a discounted copy of the book to four free copies, an invitation to the book launch where they will receive VIP treatment, and the possibility of displaying their company’s logo on the book and at the launch, should this apply.
Zaar subdivides the projects using its services into four categories: Business, Culture, Community, and Research. Teatru Mod Iehor falls in the Culture category, not only because of its subject matter, but also because it is meant as a textbook for Theatre Studies students. “It goes beyond the story of the theatre company and provides a wealth of information about modern theatre and the industry as a whole,” says Adrian Buckle, artistic director at Unifaun Theatre. “University students reading for a degree in Theatre studies will, in fact, be invited to the book launch which will be held at Spazju Kreattiv, as will theatre practitioners.”
For more information and to donate to Unifaun’s campaign, visit https://zaar.com.mt/projects/unifaun-teatru-mod-iehor-a-different-kind-of-theatre/
