Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1347847
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 7 MARCH 2021 4 THEATRE Maltese adaptation for 'The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat' at Teatru Manoel IF a man mistakes his wife for a hat, there must be a reason. Is he mad? The moment we lay aside this easy assumption, we face a real mystery. For it is not only the title (THE MAN WHO MISTOOK HIS WIFE FOR A HAT) that has turned Oliver Sacks' book into a best seller and inspired an opera and an adaptation into a theat- rical play, produced in all major theatres around the world. Be- hind it all lies an unknown world in which each new discovery in Neurological science, exposes a fascinating and deeply moving ex- perience. Sacks is a neurologist – a 'roman- tic neurologist' as he says himself – for whom the essential clinical instrument is his own heart, as it once was for another doctor, Anton Chekov, the famous Rus- sian playwright, who observed the vagaries of the human soul with equal compassion. For Sacks, those who suffer from the hard- est and most painful complaints are not diminished human be- ings; they are warriors struggling across inner chasms and abysses with the courage and determina- tion of tragic heroes. The stuff of great drama. Multiple international award-winning theatre director Peter Brook, adapted Sacks' ob- servations into a powerful moving theatrical experience consisting of clinical sessions between pa- tients and doctors. This theat- rical production evolves from a heart wrenching experience into a life affirming exercise, inspiring courage and hope, against the ad- versity of life, told by those who suffered the most, Sack's tragic heroes. The play is now to be presented at the Manoel Theatre in the Mal- tese language, with a translation by Mario Philip Azzopardi who al- so directs a formidable quartet of actors, Charles Sammut, Mikhail Basmadjian, Vince Micallef Pule and Ray Calleja. Unfortunately, there are only 80 seats allowed performance, following Pandem- ic precautions. It is thanks to the Manoel that such performances are being produced despite the imposed restrictions. Performances are on the 12, 13 and 14 of March (with an added matinee on the 14th). Very few tickets left and may be booked from www.teatrumanoel.org.mt Charles Sammut & Vince Micallef Pulè (Photo: Elisa von Brockdorff) From left to right: Charles Sammut, Vince Micallef Pulè, Ray Calleja & Mikhail Basmadjian (Photo: Elisa von Brockdorff)