The MADC’s annual Shakespeare production will be taking place this summer after all and will be returning to its traditional setting, the beautiful San Anton Gardens.
The MADC have been staging open-air productions of Shakespeare’s plays at San Anton Gardens since 1938, only stopping for a few years due to the Second World War.
Unfortunately, a few years ago the rental fee for the gardens shot up and it therefore became unfeasible to mount the production in its traditional venue – but now, following the intervention of the Association for the Performing Arts Practitioners (APAP), namely its chairman Edward Mercieca, and the assistance of the Culture Ministry, in particular Minister Mario Demarco, this well-loved part of the MADC’s season is now returning to its original venue.
This month the club will revive this 75-year old tradition, returning to its home at San Anton Gardens with The Winter’s Tale, directed by Polly March.
As the oldest active drama club in Malta, MADC is proud that it continues to perform the works of the greatest writer of the English language, in his native tongue, for theatre lovers in Malta. Other European countries have had to translate these plays for their wider appreciation. Along with the UK, Malta must be the only European country producing the works of the Bard in English on an annual basis, and played out in this idyllic wooded crescent, built in the 17th century.
As an amateur club, the MADC devotes all it energy and resources to the production of a broad cross-section of theatrical works. Revenue generated from the more popular productions such as the annual MADC pantomime at Ta’ Qali, is reinvested in other loss-making performances such as Shakespeare at San Anton. Staging an outdoor production is always very expensive compared to being in a theatre.
With costs constantly soaring, plus a positive increase in the number of cultural activities in Malta, it is the unstinting dedication and drive of the MADC’s active members that have kept it alive, a legacy inherited from the founders in 1910 and furthered by subsequent Maltese management committees. It is the same spirit that has made the MADC the spring board for so many successful actors and directors on the local stage.
This year’s production of The Winter’s Tale, which will run between 25 and 29 July, promises to be an interesting one and not to be missed
Tickets at €18 are available on-line at www.madc.biz or by phone on 7979 6232. There is a discount of €5 for children and students. Further details are available at www.madc.biz