Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/341807
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 6 JULY 2014 13 put up because they tend to involve a large cast and require considerable input from the costume, stage design, lighting, etc, point of view. And that's not even going into the quality of production, which also needs quality acting across the full dramatis per- sonae. Yet MADC, an amateur com- pany, has been producing successful Shakespeare productions every sum- mer since the 1930s, in a country where theatre is often perceived as a money-losing indulgence. "Yes, there are difficulties," Frig- gieri – who has directed several of the MADC's summer Shakespeare plays, even though this is his first stab at the Merchant – admits. "In my view there are three reasons for the MADC's success. First, the plays themselves. Shakespeare is such a great dramatist that his works con- tinue to exert a kind of magnetic pull on different age groups, for different reasons. Secondly, the quality of the productions. Of course, this varies from play to play, but over the years MADC has succeeded in roping in the best actors and a long line of ex- perienced theatre directors to work for them. Last but not least, the venue. San Anton Gardens offer the ideal setting for large productions like Shakespeare. e performance space is beautifully 'backdropped' by trees on one side and the palace on the other. It is, for this reason, extremely flexible and directors can choose which way to set their pro- duction. Apart from that, the Gar- dens at night create a magic atmos- phere that is quite unique. ere is no other venue on the island that offers theatre audiences that kind of experience." e Merchant of Venice will be running from Wednesday 23 to Wednesday, 30 July at San Anton Gardens, Attard Interview There is a Shylock and an Antonio in all of us, as theatre director and philosophy professor Joe Friggieri explains about his forthcoming production of The Merchant of Venice at San Anton That pound of flesh again… HYPOCRISY What Shylock says and does brings out the hypocrisy of false Christians. His words and actions are an indictment of their attitude, revealing contradictions between what they preach and how they behave PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAY ATTARD