Winner of the Outstanding Theatre Award at the Brighton Fringe, this funny, honest, and dark fairy tale follows Magnus Coffinkey as he attempts to fix a bell atop an impossibly high spire to make his wish come true. Set in a whimsical land of broken toys, the deeply devastating production uses the power of storytelling to navigate great personal trauma, warning that the ultimate price of failure is a permanently broken heart.
Would you mind giving us an insight into what your show/event/performance is?
The Trials of Magnus Coffinkey presents a story on two levels: on one it’s a whimsical and dark fairy tale set in a land where all the inhabitants are broken toys. The story, told largely in verse and set to an atmospheric original score, follows the endeavours of the titular Coffinkey as he climbs an impossibly high tower in the dead of night to fix the shattered bell that hangs on top of it. Once per century, this bell will grant a wish to whoever rings it, and Coffinkey is anxious to have his deeply desired dream come true. It’s a quirky and fun little tale that will draw you in until…
On the other level, the story occasionally breaks and we’re presented with its writer. We see that she’s writing the story in an attempt to deal with her own trauma and that every single metaphor and interaction is grounded in a reality that’s too overwhelming to confront.
It’s brutal and beautiful at the same time.
Tell us about the creative team and the process involved?
We’re artists based in Malta – along with the rest of our creative team. Angele is a socially engaged artist who works in various media while Malcolm is a playwright whose awards include Best Newcomer at Brighton Fringe and an Offie for Best New Musical. The idea for the play came about from a miscarriage we suffered around 18 years ago. At the time, we found some comfort in the promise that one day, when we were older and better able to express the emotions we were dealing with, we would combine our abilities to create a story that could commemorate what was lost and provide hope for those who need it.
As time went by, our resolve to create this story only became stronger. During the R&D phase, we talked to people who lost children during various stages of pregnancy and were further inspired by their heartbreak. When it came to creating the piece, Malcolm prefers metaphor and a more fantastical approach whereas Angele is more head-on and laid-bare. Since it was important for both our voices to come through, we went for an amalgamation of both styles.
While we often direct our own plays, owing to this one being closer to home than usual, we took a step back and engaged Philip Leone-Ganado – a frequent collaborator whose work we love. We cast Becky Camilleri and Joseph Zammit who are probably Malta’s busiest actors and we were able to adapt the script to showcase their ranges.
The Trials of Magnus Coffinkey premiered in Valletta in 2023 before it was staged at Brighton Fringe in 2024 where it won the Outstanding Theatre award.
How does it feel coming to (back to) the Fringe?
Ooh… exciting and intimidating all at once.
Our first time at the Fringe was in 2009 with a show called Porn – the Musical which Malcolm wrote and acted in. Angele had designed it and co-directed with Malcolm. That was a crazy experience and very much a trial by fire. The show started off as a bit of fun back in Malta and swiftly became a runaway hit. We were approached by an interested producer and a few months later we found ourselves doing Porn in Edinburgh. The musical then transferred to London and kept us busy for a few years. We still have a framed poster of the show in our house and our record for remembering to take it down before the village priest comes to bless our home (an age-long Maltese tradition) is at a consistent 0%.
This time round, our return to the Fringe is a little less spontaneous. We’ve been building up the show’s momentum for a couple of years and are collaborating with our brilliant associate producer Vikesh Godhwani who knows the lay of the land much better than we do. We’re also older and more experienced so one might reasonably expect that we know what we’re doing. We’re really hoping that will turn out to be the case…
With shows from all over the world at the Fringe, what sets yours apart?
It’s been a dream of ours to play at Summerhall since the first time we set foot there back in 2017 to see our first show (All We Ever Wanted Was Everything by Middle Child Theatre). Every piece we’ve seen there since then has stayed with us in some way, so even just being deemed a strong enough show to be included in their Fringe line-up is an honour we’re grateful for.
As for what sets The Trials of Magnus Coffinkey apart, we feel that the combination of high fantasy and stark, gut-punching reality will stay in our audiences’ minds.
The subject matter is also unfortunately pretty unusual. Whether in public forums or on an interpersonal level, stillbirth remains an uncomfortable subject for many. Even the Catholic Church – which can be quite vociferous when it comes to aborted pregnancies – is far more ambiguous when it comes to pregnancies that end unsuccessfully, where the baby is desperately and hopelessly longed for. To date, there is still no fixed position on what happens to their souls. That ambiguity was a key inspiration for our story, with a significant portion of it set in the crepuscular place between life and death.
Moreover, for people currently living in their own darkness, the play will serve as a ray of hope. To quote the show:
“A voice then echoed through the dark that strikes you like an arrow that perforates your bones and settles deeply in your marrow”
Even though over time you may forget where and when it happened, a little seed of hope will be planted into your soul for when you need it.
On that, is there anything in the production or production team’s backgrounds which influences the way the show is performed or told?
Absolutely! Angele is an artist and musician who designed much of the show’s look, costumes and props while also composing the music. When we first staged the show in Malta, the set included a large bell that hung above the action and caught the light beautifully while she also played the piano live. Malcolm’s past works include a slew of children’s plays and pantomimes for Malta’s national theatre. This enabled him to build a highly imaginative world of deceptively childlike wonder.
Our director Philip Leone-Ganado has a strong reputation for creating innovative shows that are larger than life despite having very limited resources, time and budgets. He’s the mastermind behind Malta’s Shakespeare at the Pub series which has been ongoing for the past ten years.
Our cast, Joseph Zammit and Becky Camilleri are both highly experienced full-time actors who have been tempered over the years by Malta’s punishing theatre system. In Malta, we typically have very short runs – often lasting no more than a couple of weekends. Therefore, professional actors might find themselves rehearsing and performing five or six major productions per season. Last year’s edition of Shakespeare in the Pub had the audience choose from three possible plays, so each cast member (which naturally included Joseph and Becky) had to learn multiple roles (and songs) for Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing, and The Two Gentlemen of Verona. At around the same time, Becky and Joseph were also starring in an original musical that toured Malta for six weeks and this was hot on the heels of them playing the title characters in Medea and Peer Gynt respectively.
Basically, when it came to the multiple roles that they have to play in The Trials of Magnus Coffinkey, both Becky and Joseph had giant reserves of experience to draw from. Additionally, Becky became a mummy for the first time around a month before the start of our Fringe run. We wouldn’t be surprised if this milestone will be reflected in her interpretation somehow.
Our newest team member is our associate producer Vikesh Godhwani, another Maltese theatre-maker who is now based in London. His most recent Edinburgh Fringe show was the award-winning The Chaos That Has Been And Will No Doubt Return (also at Summerhall). He’s been advising us on everything from marketing to stage lighting and it’s a joy having his enthusiasm and energy on the team.
Is there anything specific you’re hoping the audience will take away?
We hope people leave with different things. For some, it may simply be a quirky, entertaining and vaguely unsettling fairy tale. For others, particularly those who have been touched by loss and grief, we hope the experience will offer recognition and validation. Previous audience members have described it as a “cathartic and healing experience” that “honours and dignifies the little life that has been lost”.
For those who have not been through the heartbreak of stillbirth, it offers an insight on the reality behind it. Unfortunately the ambiguity in the religious interpretation of the loss is also reflected on a social level. When the baby isn’t actually born, many don’t see it as a significant bereavement and maybe even consider it as something that one could and should eventually ‘get over’.
Apart from exploring the female experience, the story also details the role of the fathers: the men who feel obliged to be a pillar of strength at home and report to work the very next day while pretending that their world didn’t just fall apart overnight. We’re hoping that our audiences will be able to recognise the pain in these people even when it’s not on show.
Your Ideal audience is in attendance, who’s watching? Or more importantly – who isn’t…?
The ideal audience is anyone who has ever felt broken in some way. The show’s tagline is A broken fairy tale for broken people, and we mean that affectionately. Loss comes in many forms: bereavement, illness, separation, regret, guilt, loneliness, or simply the feeling that life hasn’t turned out the way you expected it to.
At its core, The Trials of Magnus Coffinkey is about trying to repair something that cannot be repaired, longing for a wish that may be impossible, and finding a way to keep going with a permanently broken heart.
The show isn’t ideal for people who are looking for a nice and easy time at the theatre. Ultimately it is what it is: a bedtime story for a child who was born sleeping and will never wake up.
It’s an intense month, so where you’re able, how do you plan to relax, and are there any other shows you intend to see or want to recommend?
Our must-see list literally keeps expanding every day, which is probably not the most relaxing way to approach Edinburgh. Our most recent addition just this morning is Already Here by SJ Hodges. We read about it on this website and it intrigued us enough to go straight into our diary. We also like to see comedy in order to blow off steam and this year we’re looking forward to finally catching Garry Starr, Gianmarco Soresi, and Reuben Kaye’s new show.
Our teenage sons will be joining us for the second half of the festival, by which point we’re hoping things will have settled into either some kind of rhythm or a more or less manageable chaos. It will be their first proper Fringe experience, (previously they were either babies or foetuses) although whether bringing two teenagers to the world’s busiest arts festival counts as relaxation remains to be seen. The jury’s way out on that one.
The Trials of Magnus Coffinkey will run at Venue 26, Red Lecture Theatre at Summerhall
Runs: August 6th – August 31st at 10.30am
Photo credit – Shot by Trendy
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