Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/792945
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 1 MARCH 2017 ISAAC AZZOPARDI ANN Fenech and Konrad Mizzi are getting married on the biggest ship in Malta, and this is no cruise liner – it's the LNG tanker in Marsaxlokk bay! It is a wedding on a political high. The witnesses are none other than cat-and-dog Glenn Bedingfield and Daphne Caruana Galizia, who have both undergone notable transfor- mations. Fort St Angelo, perched on its spit of land in the Grand Harbour, was the stage for this year's Qarcilla, penned by Immanueal Mifsud, and it revolves around the marriage of Ann Fenech (Anna Fenech) and Konrad Mizzi (Korradinjo), presided over by 'the Notary'. Bedingfield (Shag-in-field) is now skin-thin and lanky from working too hard at Castille, and Daphne (Dik li ma tissemiex) fat and dressed in garish colours. The Qarcilla, a carnival street farce revolving around a notary's reading of rhyming contract to wed the couple accompanying him, dates back to the 1700s. Throughout the years it evolved from its Comme- dia dell'Arte spirit to being heavily regulated by the Knights and then the British, who tamed the Qarcilla's obscenely racy content. After not being performed for decades and seemingly forgotten by people, it made a popular comeback in 2014, with a new Qarċilla penned by Tre- vor Żahra. Among the audience were Simon Busuttil, Ann Fenech and Salvu Mallia – the last two featured in the qarċilla – at whose expense a lot of jokes were made. When the Notary quipped about Konrad and his as- sets, one of them shouted out to Simon to take pictures for proof of Konrad's shady affairs. This incredibly informal event being part of Carnival celebrations has grotesque written all over it. This 'grotesque' is the upending of all that is normal, conventional; it is the unreal and the surreal. And so, the Qarcilla features lurid dress and colours, exaggeration of move- ment, shouting and a lot of sex puns, notably the chorus about the min- ister's very big ship (Kemm hu kbir tal ministru! Sab ix-xaqq u dahlu gewwa, ara ftit kemm dahal sew- wa!), and Anna Fenech's lamenting where to pee (Issa jien fejn ha nbul?). As far as this Qarcilla goes, there is a strong comedic narrative. Mark from Xarabank is on PBS reporting a TV live-stream from the wedding of the year. The notary and groom enter and are joined by the bride and Ben Shag-in-field as celebratory toi- let paper is thrown across the hall into the audience. The black shroud- ed mass behind which they stand is revealed to be the LNG tanker, much to everyone's annoyance. The tanker keeps swaying violent- ly to a side to dramatic effect from the swear-strewn shouts of the cast. The source is later revealed to have been "Dik li ma tissemiex" (She who must not be mentioned – Daphne Caruana Galizia) getting on board. The PBS crew keep disrupting the proceedings for the adverts, which is actually a sing-along with the au- dience. Following fights, bickering, swearing at each other and several bad sex and fart puns, a final char- acter appears, the Hippy (Salvu Mal- lia) – Jien xi darba kont maghruf/ Stilla tat-televizjoni/Issa sirt qisni l-Messija/Nirrezisti l korruzzjoni. (I was once well known, a TV star, now I'm like the Messiah, resisting against corruption). After throwing the Hippy over- board, the Panama flag is unfurled along with the Panamanian national anthem in honour of Konrad, and the ship starts to drift off the shore and panic ensues. The Hippy emerg- es victorious holding the unfastened berthing ropes and roundly calling all the wedding assembly 'Assholes!' and they back at him. The performance itself was brief, fast-paced and hilarious, the audi- ence constantly cracked up laugh- ing, particularly at the unashamed use of the vernacular, swearwords and bad sexual puns. A handful of people were quite uncomfortable with some things that were said, who didn't seem to be laughing at all. Though this was my first view- ing of the Qarcilla, ignorant of the format they took, it seems unfit for such a bawdy, innuendo-filled per- formance to be institutionalised by the University of Malta and Heritage Malta, and not made public, for free. Tickets cost €15 (price including food and wine) with a performance held in Fort St Angelo, possibly the island's most impenetrable fortress. Age restriction is a must, but that shouldn't deter the agents of the Qarcilla from reaching a wider audi- ence. Less of interest was the lecture: we get it, the Qarcilla is something old, now let us at it. History is interest- ing, but a comedy should not be pre- ceded by a lecture. But let's not forget the pen behind this Qarċilla: Immanual Mifsud writes a powerful political satire. What seems to be grotesque is not the garish colours of carnival, but the petty politics and batty media on which this year's Qarcilla is based. News EUR 25,000,000 4.4% UNSECURED BONDS 2024 Von der Heyden Group Finance p.l.c. (the "Issuer") announces the offering to the public of €25 million Unsecured Bonds ("Bond/s") due in 2024 at the rate of 4.4% per annum with a nominal value of €1000 per Bond issued at par. The Bonds are guaranteed by Timan Investments Holdings Limited. (Timan Investments Holdings Limited is the parent company of the Issuer). VDH Group has over 25 years of real estate development experience in Europe including Malta, Spain, United States, Poland and Germany. Since 1989 the group concluded investment programs in the real estate markets with a value of more than approx Euro 350 million. The value of investments may increase as well as decrease and past performance is not an indication of future performance. 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SPONSOR, MANAGER & REGISTRAR Von der Heyden Group Palazzo Spinola 46, St. Christopher Street Valletta, VLT1464 Malta Tel.: +356 27792200 Web: www.vdhgroup.com ISSUED BY VON DER HEYDEN GROUP. NEW BOND ISSUE 25 688 688 info@cc.com.mt CALAMATTA CUSCHIERI IS LICENSED BY THE MFSA. Ann Fenech gets hitched with Konrad Mizzi in hilarious, bawdy Qarcilla