Jo's Little Theatre

23/08/2025

After years of feeling like there's no space in the arts for actors like us, , and I (.littleactress_) decided to take the matter into our own hands and open the floodgates for culturally-diverse actors in English-speaking countries.

We are tired of the cultural STEREOTYPES perpetuated by the media, and we are fighting for a much more ACCURATE representation of cultural identities in the arts. But we're doing that with a lot of humour and silliness 😋

Curious about what this is all about?

Come see our play "Ethnically Ambiguous" and watch us change the acting industry, one step at a time. ♥️ LINK IN BIO!

08/09/2024

If you love theatre, movies and art in general, and you know how to speak a foreign language, then the work I do at Jo's Little Theatre—my little hub for multilingual art—might interest you.

Welcome to Jo's Little Theatre (JLT)! 🌏

WHY DID I CREATE JLT? ⬇️

I love languages SO much and, even though acting is my priority right now and my childhood dream, I have heaps of work experience in language-related fields, AND my passion for languages hasn’t decreased not even a lil' bit since I started pursuing an acting career!

So I thought: why don’t I combine both?

My acting career, my passion for THEATRE, my most artsy side...
+..LANGUAGES, translation, and linguistic diversity?

I'd love for you to join me on this journey because I have so much to talk about when it comes to multilingualism and art!

Stay tuned 🎭

25/08/2024

14/08/2024

🌸 Jo's Little Theatre (JLT) aims to:

1. Promote multilingualism in the arts. We live in a multicultural world, and our movies and plays and songs need to reflect that.

Bollywood has always mixed English and Hindi. Call Me By Your Name, that great movie with T. Chamalet, has their characters speak French, Italian and English. This is the kind of art the need, because this is the kind of art that makes us feel seen.

Strong foreign accents, like Sofía Vergara's in Modern Family, are slowly becoming more common. And that's great, BUT we need more representation.

We need foreign characters with light accents, for example. In my case, I don't have a strong accent in English, French and Spanish, but I do have one. And I never feel seen in TV shows, because characters either have a perfect accent, or a very thick one. There's no in-between, and that's not what happens IRL. So many foreigners have light accents. But this is only one of the things that are wrong with linguistic representation in the media today (I'll tell you the rest in many other posts!).

2. Make multilingual art, that is to say, art that mixes several languages + linguistically diverse art, that is, art in a language other than the official language of a given country, e.g.: directing a Portuguese play in Spain; which I did, btw 😍

3. Teach languages through art. I have been directing plays in French for the French Drama Club (Spectacle) of the University of Auckland, New Zealand, for two years in a row. The actors I work with are French students who want to improve their French, and they find that performing theatre plays in French really helps them! When I teach language classes, I try to use music/films too. I learnt the languages I know through art, especially music and films, and I do believe there's no better way to learn 🌏

04/08/2024

I'm so incredibly proud to be directing these talented actors and students of French at the University of Auckland. After last years' play (Bêêêêlent familles, 2023), we decided that this year we would do something different: a classic play, written by the most famous French playwright: Molière! 🇫🇷🥐

"Le Malade Imaginaire" ("The Imaginary Invalid", often translated as "The Hypochondriac" as well) is a very funny satire of the medical profession and our actors make it even funnier. I love directing them because they take my ideas seriously, aren't afraid to give their own suggestions and put a lot of themselves into their characters. They're kind, they are passionate about the French language and francophone culture, and they aren't scared of getting out of their comfort zone and getting deep into the magic of theatre 🎭

All these actors have been working very hard to learn their lines, improve their French pronunciation, block the scenes, and allow their characters' emotions to come to the surface. You won't regret watching this hilarious French classic, and you'll understand all of it thanks to our beautifully translated surtitles 🥰 that's right! Even though the whole play is in French, we've translated it: there wil be surtitles (yep, surtitles, because they're displayed above the stage).

Come promote multilingual & linguistically diverse theatre with us 💕 TICKETS IN BIO!

29/07/2024

WHY is LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY in the arts so important? 👇

1. LANGUAGE IS IDENTITY. Language is culture. Preserving languages is preserving the culture and traditions of the countries where they’re spoken.

And culture is identity. Therefore, language is identity.

And who wants to see their identity forgotten and dismissed by others?

2. DIVERSITY MATTERS, AND IT IS REALLY COOL.

The world is so culturally diverse, and that’s SO cool and interesting.

We can learn so much from different cultures and different habits. In an increasingly polarised world, we NEED to learn how to become more tolerant towards one another.

And a great way to do that is by respecting and preserving other cultures. Therefore, a great way to do it is by respecting and preserving other languages.

🤸‍♀️ Wanna find out more about ALL this?

I’ll tell you all about multilingualism and linguistic diversity in the arts in this Instagram account. STAY TUNED!

24/07/2024

Don't let anyone tell you that you're not an artist. You're a human being, so you can make art if you want to. We're all artists when we're kids, and then we grow up, and society tells us to stop. It tells us that our creativity doesn't matter.

But it's not true. You, random and beautiful person reading this, can make art if you want to. And, in my opinion, you really should.

I'm not an elitist when it comes to art. I think everyone should make art, and all art is good as long as it's vulnerable and authentic, and it comes from a place of realness.

Art is inherently human, and it saves us. There's no better way to heal than through art. Creativity allows us to express ourselves in ways we had never imagined. It allows to be as ourselves as we can. It allows us to surprise ourselves.

Any artist will know that the creative process is incredibly magic and has a life of its own, and surprises us in so many ways. ✨

It's such a beautiful tool to get us through life. Whenever I have bad things happen to me, I always remind myself that I can make art out of them. I'll turn them into art, if nothing else. And I'll be fine, because art saves me, every time, and it heals me so deeply.

Always has, always will.

24/07/2024

🌸 Jo's Little Theatre (JLT) aims to:

1. Promote multilingualism in the arts. We live in a multicultural world, and our movies and plays and songs need to reflect that.

Bollywood has always mixed English and Hindi. Call Me By Your Name, that great movie with T. Chamalet, has their characters speak French, Italian and English. This is the kind of art the need, because this is the kind of art that makes us feel seen.

We already have lots of art with foreigners with strong accents, like Sofía Vergara's character in Modern Family, and that's great, BUT we need more representation.

We need foreign characters with light accents, for example. In my case, I don't have a strong accent in English, French and Spanish, but I have one. And I never feel seen in TV shows, because characters either have a perfect accent, or a very thick one. There's no in-between, and that's not what happens IRL. So many foreigners have light accents. But this is only one of the things that are wrong with linguistic representation in the media today (I'll tell you the rest in many other posts!).

2. Make multilingual art, that is to say, art that mixes several languages + linguistically diverse art, that is, art in a language other than the official language of a given country, e.g.: directing a Portuguese play in Spain; which I did, btw 😍

3. Teach languages through art. I have been directing plays in French for the French Drama Club (Spectacle) of the University of Auckland, New Zealand, for two years in a row. The actors I work with are French students who want to improve their French, and they find that performing theatre plays in French really helps them! And when I teach language classes, I try to use music/films too. I learnt the languages I know through art, especially music and films, and I do believe there's no better way to learn 🌏

24/07/2024

I am Jo Malta and I am passionate about THEATRE and FOREIGN LANGUAGES. 🌸

In the last few years, I decided to pursue an acting career. I became an actress and drama teacher, and I write my own plays as well. I love being an artist. It's part of who I am as a human being, and fills my soul with so much joy.

BUT before that, and before I even went to drama school, back in 2018, I worked exclusively in language-related fields.

I’ve got a Master’s degree in Translation from one of the best translation universities in the world (ESIT-Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris) and I’ve been a professional translator for over twelve years. I worked at some of the world's most important international organisations as a translator and I am now working as a freelancer. 💻

I speak six languages, and I am also a language teacher. I teach non-native speakers how to speak Portuguese, my mother tongue, as well as French and Spanish, and I am currently studying to become an ESOL (English for speakers of other languages) teacher as well.

If you speak other languages as well, and if you love art, and movies, and theatre, the work I do at Jo's Little Theatre—my little hub for multilingual art—might interest you!

Come find out 🎭