My story – Christine Borg

You can take the girl out of the island but you cannot take the island out of the girl.

From a very young age I aspired to entertain – I was a creative, imaginative child with a love of music, dance and storytelling. I secretly wished to enrol in a performing arts school, but life did not present me with such opportunities at the time.

However, where there’s a will there’s a way: I eventually convinced my parents to sign me up for piano lessons at our local Maria Bambina music school. With persistence and determination, I eventually landed myself in the Masquerade School of Performing Arts, finishing with a diploma in Musical Theatre. With this in my hand, I wanted to take the next big step and leave this tiny island for the big city – London.

The road was paved with hard work and many extra lessons in dance, drama and singing, whilst also gaining as much experience as possible in local productions. I took this very seriously and began to look at the possibility of applying to several drama schools. Nothing was going to stop me.

Of course, with this came the experience of the nature of the game – the stakes were high so there were many disappointments and a lot of heartache. Hard work did, however, pay off and I had offers from three drama schools, my favourite being Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. The next major hurdle was financial support and this is where the Malta Arts Scholarship Scheme came in. I auditioned before their panel and achieved second place in Malta. It was due to this scheme that I was able to pack up my stuff and move to ‘the Smoke’.

I spent the next couple of years exploring what I could do creatively in areas of acting that I had never dreamed I was capable of achieving. I was lucky to be part of a fantastic group and I made some lifelong friends with whom I shared the experience in class and also out of class, whenever we went to watch performances at the Globe, National and WestEnd to name but a few. At the end of the course I was privileged to have the opportunity to perform at the Ambassador’s Theatre, on an actual West-End stage.

After some time, I decided to head back to where it all began, my little Mediterranean island. The theatre scene in Malta is not what it used to be. It is growing fast and exponentially. This felt like the natural thing to do – to give back to my country what it had given to me. I want to pass on my knowledge through teaching youngsters who are talented and willing to learn. I am also joining the fabulous talent we have on our island in our theatre scene on stage and in front of the camera.

I now have a Master’s degree in Acting and I would not change a thing from this whole experience as it has made me the person I am today. I took some tough decisions and made some bold choices and this has made me stronger as a person.

What I have achieved would have been impossible without the support of the Malta Arts Scheme and I would like to thank them personally for nourishing young and promising talent.