Life and death decisions

Masquerade's second production at the Manoel Theatre this season will be Brian Clark's extraordinary play Whose Life Is It Anyway?

Originally written for television, Whose Life Is It Anyway? was transferred to the stage in 1978 with British actor Tom Conti in the pivotal role of Ken Harrison the tetraplegic sculptor who, after a horrendous motor accident, ends up in hospital paralysed from the neck down.

The stage version won the Society of West End Theatre's Best Play award in 1978. Earlier this year Brian Clark adapted and updated his original script to both take account of the latest medical advances in the treatment of spinal injuries and to change the sex of the protagonist from male to female.

Claire Harrison was played in London by the Canadian actress Kim Cattrall, better known as Samantha Jones from the TV series Sex in the City.

In Masquerade's production the role of Claire will be played by Samantha Brown, who has both appeared and toured with the British National Theatre.

She is joined by a strong cast made up of Nanette Brimmer, Vanessa Macdonald, Godwin Scerri, Simon Demarco, Steve Hili, Josette Vella, Hollie Cassar, Ninette Micallef and Kevin Drake.

Whose Life Is It Anyway? is considered by many people as one of the finest plays written in the last 30 years.

The main character Claire is a complex, difficult yet rewarding role for any actress. She wants to be heard and to reclaim the decisions about her own life and death.

The central dilemma of this play is: Should any of us have the right to decide our own fate, even if this means the right to decide to die, rather than live a truncated and, in Claire's view, a useless existence.

The play will be staged between Friday, February 3 and Sunday, February 5.

Booking is open from the box office at the Manoel Theatre in Valletta, from www.masquerade malta.com, e-mail bookings@teatrumanoel.com.mt or tel. 2124 6389.

For full details contact Masquerade on 7979 3737, www.masquerademalta.com