Are you exotic?

Moya Stubbs talks to Danielle Asciak about her debut cabaret Everyone Wants a Piece of Malta!

Are you exotic? People often tell Danielle Asciak that she is and after a holiday in Malta, the country her grandparents emigrated from, she agrees! Born to Maltese and Serbian parents Ms Asciak brings her love affair with Malta to the stage in a cabaret show called Everyone Wants a Piece of Malta.

When I met with Danielle before her second show in her changing room, a disabled toilet above the café where her cabaret show is running on Friday nights during Mudfest, she was having costume dramas – her bra, to wear or not to wear? That is the question (in case anyone is interested; she did wear it). However, we swiftly moved on to talking about the topic on everyone’s lips, Danielle’s heart warming tale of a trip to Malta with her father, and various other family members, was a hilarious, musical ride, flying Air Malta, over Asia to the Mediterranean Sea. Destination – Malta – the tiny island with a big history and a big rubbish problem.

At the beginning of Malta Danielle enters the room, bronzed skin and big hair, dragging a suitcase, the very one she took to Malta on her trip. The scene is set with the little help of a brief air hostess costume change and then the singing, dancing and pastizzi began to flow freely, accompanied by a large glass of humorous anecdotes about being belonging and yet not belonging in Malta and trying to understand bus drivers speak “Minglish” Danielle’s name for the Maltese version of English. FULL UP THE BUS, EVERYONE!

Malta is Danielle’s first foray into writing for cabaret. The idea for the show came about when a friend suggested she should do a script rather than an essay as her final assessment piece when studying cabaret at Melbourne University earlier this year. “Why not? It could be fun” thought Danielle. Her studies and the show that came out of it have clearly sparked a fire. “I would love to just go to Berlin and see more of cabaret, real, traditional cabaret… I think it’s just got so much history.”

When I talked to Danielle about how she developed the show and what that experience was like, she spoke openly about how important her discussion and collaboration with colleagues was. James Simpson, the musical director of Malta, proved to be a wealth of information as well as a decisive and constructive editor. “I went in there just completely going on what I knew about cabaret and [James] opened up a world of cabaret, and imagination and how to tell a story and so I’ve been quiet blessed with that. Ha ha, I sound like one of those hip hop artists; let’s thank god (bows her head solemnly).”

She has clearly really loved the process of creating an entire show from conception to performance. And the control she has with a one-woman show. “It’s exhilarating because you have the freedom to do what you want to do and tell the story that you want to tell and do it your way”. Which sharply contrasts with her work done in ensembles and most recently in acclaimed student production Melbourne Model: The Musical, which had quite a large cast. “It’s just me on stage for and hour and ten minutes and I have to, like, hold the audience’s attention the whole time and that’s really scary as a performer.”

Malta is Danielle’s first foray into cabaret but I have to say that I am looking forward to her next installment. About her Serbian heritage, perhaps? But till then go and see Everyone Wants a Piece of Malta this Friday at 7pm and 10pm at the Brooklyn Project, University of Melbourne.