On Thursday, 30 March, the staff and students at Carlo Diacono Girls’ Junior Lyceum celebrated a prize-giving ceremony for last year’s Form 3 and Form 4 students.

It was a very enjoyable evening, during which a good number of students were awarded prizes for their achievements at school. The programme included an adaptation in Maltese by Chris Buttigieg of The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare. Marija Baldacchino and Stefan Scerri were responsible for the production, with the latter also taking care of the direction.

To be perfectly honest, I was worried that such a production would be tedious and dreary, since past prize-day productions often involved high-quality musicals offering a wider range of spectacle. However, I was in for a wonderful surprise. Incredibly detailed costumes, a wonderful set by Alfred Portelli and, above all, a professional effort on the part of the students who took part quickly changed my foreboding to exhilaration.

My idea of Shakespeare, one I believe is shared by many whose experience of Shakespeare is limited to studying some of his works at school, is that the language used is so difficult and high-brow that it makes the work inaccessible to a good part of the audience. I admit that this evening changed my opinion and I realised that Shakespeare can be enjoyable, even in Maltese.

I would like to congratulate the students who took part in this play: Stephanie Pullicino (Antipholus of Syracuse), Alice Cassar (Antipholus of Ephesus), Stephanie Abela (Dromio of Syracuse), Raisa Abela (Dromio of Ephesus), Andrea Bondin (Ægeon), Leanne Spiteri (Abess), Ruth Bonnici (Adriana), Jennifer Bellizzi (Luciana), Lorraino Valvo (Solinus), Tiziana Gauci (Duchess), Sarah-Marie Briffa (Consultant), Kristina Caruana (Angelo), Claire Abela (Balthasar), Rebecca Parnis (Doctor Pinch), Raissa Abela (Courtesan), Justine Schembri (Landlord), Oriana Lofreda (Tailor), Katya Pullicino (Policeman), and all the other students who formed the crowd and soldiers at Syracuse. A special mention goes to Stephanie Abela and Raisa Abela as the Dromio twins. They were so convincing that at times it was not easy to believe that they were in fact two separate characters and not the same person.

Well done to all the teachers who helped in this production. I hope that Carlo Diacono Girls’ Junior Lyceum continues to offer the best to its students, who after all, are at the centre of all our efforts.

Kenneth Grima

B.Ed. (Hons.); PDTRI (Trans.)

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