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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 27 SEPTEMBER 2015 40 This Week Masquerade Theatre Company launches its Autumn season Manoel Theatre back in action after summer break SUMMER may be drawing to a close, but Masquerade Theatre Company is pulling out all the stops to craft a memorable Autumn sea- son of theatrical productions and initiatives from all genres. With over 65 productions under its belt, Masquerade is Theatre in Malta and the Autumn Season 2015 continues this tradition with high-energy, intelligent theatre. The season kicked off with 1565 – The Musical in Concert (Mediter- ranean Conference Centre, Valletta on September 6 and 7). This was a highly successful concert version of an epic production and chroni- cled the events of the Great Siege of Malta, with lyrics by Malcolm Galea, music by Paul Abela and un- der the direction of Anthony Bez- zina. Next up is something very differ- ent, A Handbag by award-winning playwright, Anthony Horowitz, (Blue Box at M Space Msida, Octo- ber 2 and 3). The contents of this 'handbag' are far from ordinary! A cast of six attempt to stage Oscar Wilde's The Importance Of Being Earnest and the results are startling. If you are looking for a polite 'Com- edy Of Manners' this production is definitely not it – and delivered to local audiences under the direc- tion of UK theatre director, Andy Smith. A true contemporary classic fol- lows later in the month, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Manoel Theatre, Valetta, October 16, 17, 18 and 23, 24, 25). This powerful dra- ma explores the beauty and danger of being a free spirit in a closed sys- tem. The play tells the story of Ran- dle McMurphy, an energetic 'con man' who seeks institutionalisation as a means of escaping the rigors of a prison work farm. Stephen Oliver directs an ensemble cast in a dynamic and potent production which is guaranteed to make even the most level headed of us ques- tion our own sanity. As we slide into November we move back to Blue Box with Jason Robert Brown's The Last Five Years (Blue Box – M Space, Msida – No- vember 20, 21, 22 and 27, 28 and 29). This is a musical love story for a new generation, featuring emotion- ally powerful songs by the acclaimed playwright, Jason Robert Browning. This intimate musical follows two New Yorkers, both in their twenties, who fall in and out of love over the course of five years. The show's in- novative structure focuses on 'Cathy' telling her story backwards while 'Jamie' tells his story chronologically; the two characters only meet once at their wedding, which happens in the middle of the show! For more information log on to www.masquerademalta.com OCTOBER sees the start of a very exciting and eclectic nine-month performance season at Malta's Na- tional Theatre. The 2015-2016 programme opens to the sound of trumpets; an orchestral concert by the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra conduct- ed by Brian Schembri with world renowned trumpeter Sergei Na- kariakov on October 2. The Malta Philharmonic Orchestra then con- tinues to pepper the calendar with six more concerts. There is an extended 'Wednes- days at the Manoel' series of recitals by renowned local and foreign art- ists with music ranging from clas- sical to jazz and contemporary. The Leipzig Quartet give their final two (of six) recitals of Beethoven's String Quartets and violinist Charlie Siem (April) returns to perform with Ju- lian Dyson. The return of Vienna in Valletta, a concert by Brikkuni, Ionisation (part of the Modern Mu- sic Days), the annual band concert and Teatru Unplugged complete the music programme of more than 25 different events. Artistic Director, Kenneth Zam- mit Tabona said, "For the first time in ages we will be having two operas in this season; Purcell's Dido and Aeneas is a match funding project between the Theatre and Valletta 2018 which entails the cooperation of two entities, TMYO (Teatru Ma- noel Youth Opera) and VIBE (Val- letta International Baroque Festival Ensemble). Our annual opera pro- duction in March is another very popular and well-loved baroque opera, Gluck's Orphée et Eurydice. While these could mark a radical departure from the usual fare they are in spirit and in physical dimen- sion far more commensurate to the theatre's ambience and above all its footprint." One of the major events is un- doubtedly the Valletta International Baroque Festival in January which includes 21 different concerts and recitals in nine different Valletta venues from January 16 to 30. There are 10 drama productions which include two new Maltese plays: Ħabbilni Ħa Nirbaħ (Feb) and Marti Martek, Martek Marti (May) presented by Staġun Teatru Malti, the world premiere of Ed- ward Bond's new play The Price of One (April) commissioned by the Manoel Theatre and co-produced with Unifaun Theatre Productions as well the revival of Neil Simon's The Odd Couple (February) pro- duced by MADC. Other dramatic works include It's All About My Tea which is devised and performed by Lou Ghirlando, Masquerade Theatre Productions's One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (October), Ir-Raġel Tagħna, Miżżeweġ Magħna (No- vember) which a Maltese transla- tion of Ray Cooney's farce Caught in the Net and FourPlayFour by DnA Productions will bring great satirical comedy in November. Teatru Manoel Youth Theatre will end the season with their new production Rubbish. Not listed with the above is, of course, the ever popular annual pantomime Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood by FM Theatre Productions at Christmas. The Manoel will be presenting two very exciting dance shows this season. Chancel & Spirall (Janu- ary) are two contemporary ballets performed in the same evening by Ballet de l'Opéra-Théâtre de Metz Métropole. 'Spirall' is composed by Max Richter and 'Chancel' by Maltese composer Ruben Zahra. ŻfinMalta, in April, will perform HOME, a reworking of Mavin Khoo's 2014 production Bla Konfi- ni/Borderless (originally commis- sioned by the FCN) with music and sound design by Renzo Spiteri. Teatru Manoel's Toi Toi Educa- tion Programme, devised and run by Arts Education Consultant, Rosetta Debattista, continues to develop substantially. The ever- popular concerts for children 022 and 325 are back with more per- formances of the latter. PikuZi also return with a series of five fun and educational new plays in Maltese for children aged 6+. There are six new Toi Toi Moves productions of contemporary dance for children of various ages created and presented by various choreographers including Moveo Dance Company and ŻfinMalta. One-off Toi Toi events for all the family are the Easter Sunday Big Band Concert and Decomposed (April) which is a brilliantly mov- ing play told in a very silly way through classical music. Also part of this programme are Teatru Manoel Youth Theatre (TMYT), Teatru M anoel Youth Opera (TMYO) and the newly formed Teatru Manoel Youth Performers (TMYP) who appear throughout the season in their own produc- tions at the Manoel and as part of other events such as Notte Bianca and Żiguzajg Festival. Ray Attard, the Theatre's CEO, summed up by stating, "Keeping this historic building functional and, above all, relevant is not an easy task with the limitations of a Theatre the footprint of which dates back to 1731. Balancing the needs and wants of a contempo- rary audience within an 18th cen- tury framework is a daunting task, but, I believe, we have once again produced a stimulating and varied programme, which includes some- thing for everyone and, literally, for all ages. We have also made every effort to keep it affordable by not raising seat prices and offer- ing discount schemes. As a nation we should be proud to have such a world-class theatre with world- class artists as well as a perform- ance calendar which is the busiest of any arts establishment in Eu- rope." Joe Azzopardi and Steffi Thake in Masquerade's production of Anthony Horowitz's A Handbag