Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/788859
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 19 FEBRUARY 2017 39 This Week Anthology of historical fiction honours Judge Giovanni Bonello MADC brings back classic English comedy with She Stoops to Conquer MERLIN Publishers in collabora- tion with Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti, have published the fest- schrift-with-a-difference, which brings to life ten characters sal- vaged by Judge Giovanni Bonello, in the form of fiction stories, writ- ten by ten of Malta's most creative writers. The book – Awguri, Giovanni Bonello! – is bilingual and features six stories in Maltese by Clare Azzopardi, Immanuel Mifsud, John Bonello, Nabhan Walid, Al- fred Sant and Mark Vella; and four stories in English by Maria Grech Ganado, Emma Mattei, Teodor Reljic and Kristina Chetcuti. Each story is illustrated by Marisa At- tard, with artistic drawings styled to match the era of the tales. Some of the historical characters featured in the book include Eka- terina Greque, one of the several mistresses of Grandmaster Jean de Valette; Caterina Scappi who founded the very first hospital in Malta dedicated exclusively to women; Giovanni Buonamico, a Maltese doctor and traveller who was the first in Europe to write a treatise on chocolate; and Ca- terina Vitale, the late sixteenth- century benefactress of the Car- melite friary in Valletta who also happened to be an enterprising prostitute and sadistic torturer of slaves. Chris Gruppetta, director at Merlin Publishers, home to most of Malta's best authors, said: "There is little Maltese historical fiction around. We are honoured to have published such a fine specimen of the genre, with sto- ries ranging from the delightfully amusing to the grotesque to the haunting." Awguri, Giovanni Bonello! is out now and is available from leading bookshops or directly online from www.merlinpublishers.com. A celebration of the publication will be held on February 23, at 19:30 at Palazzo Pereira in Vallet- ta. More information: info@mer- linpublishers.com or 2124 6472 Pipits are small, slim, generally nondescript birds. They love open steppe and grassland and spend most of their time on the ground, with which they blend well and are easy to miss even as they walk around looking for insects. An attentive ear, however, will pick up the thin calls with which they frequently announce their presence. Eight species of pipit have been recorded in Malta so far: three are common, if seasonal (one of which also breeds occasionally) and the rest range from frequent to very rare, the rarest being the olive-backed pipit (M: diżż tal-lvant). In recent weeks one such olive-backed wonder was in the Ta' Qali area, spending the day walking around (yes they walk, not hop) the short grass oblivious to the attention it was receiving from birdwatchers eager to add it to their checklist – no wonder, as this bird has only been recorded a handful of times so far. GREEN IDEA OF THE WEEK 448 FIND OUT MORE – www.foemalta.org/bee Visit Friends of the Earth's website for more information about our work, as well as for information about how to join us. You can also support us by sending us a donation - www.foemalta.org/donate Text Victor Falzon Photo Aron Tanti x x x 545. OLIVE-BACKED PIPIT SHE Stoops to Conquer, Oli- ver Goldsmith's classic comedy about mistaken identity, decep- tion and love is making a return this month with performances at the Manoel Theatre and Sale- sian Theatre. First performed in London in 1773, this play is one of those rare comedies that have succeeded in remaining funny and still relevant more than 200 years later – enjoying regular runs the world over. The story sees the cripplingly shy Charles Marlow being sent by his father to Mr Hardcastle's country home so as to introduce himself to his daughter Kate. On the way there, Charles gets lost and eventually arrives at Mr Hardcastle's house thinking that he's at a roadside inn instead. Young Charles behaves accord- ingly – much to the disgust of the old-fashioned Mr Hardcas- tle. When Kate learns about the mistake, rather than set Charles straight, she pretends to be a barmaid so that his behaviour around her will be a lot less re- served and extremely informal. She Stoops to Conquer is di- rected for the MADC by comedy veteran Malcolm Galea ('Marti Martek, Martek Marti', Porn: the Musical) with Marylu Coppini, Stephen Oliver, Tina Rizzo, An- dre Agius, Joe Depasquale, Giulia Gatt, Gianni Selvaggi, Michael Mangion and John Marinelli rounding off the cast. The show runs at the Salesian Theatre from March 17 to 19, and at the Manoel Theatre from March 23 to 26. Bookings: www.madc.com.mt, bookings@madc.com.mt Tina Rizzo and Giulia Gatt