Gozo Citadel’s new ‘little theatre’ It-Teatru, opening at the weekend (October 22-23) with a specially written play by a local author was an astounding success. Although small in number all seats were booked more than two weeks in advance and there is already talk of a repeat performance, or performances.

Members of the Gozo Creative Theatre Club, directed by George Mizzi, coped well with the sometimes remarkable English script of According To Pilate, which followed the biblical story of St Paul’s shipwreck on Malta and his reception by the Roman governor Publius and his family. Gozo-based writer Revel Barker took the well-known story a stage further, with an incredibly imaginative suggestion that the family might – possibly – have known more about Jesus than Paul did.

Notable among the cast was Ċettina Scicluna, who managed long speeches as Claudia, wife of Publius, played with extreme confidence by George Camilleri. They had strong support from Eugene Bajada and Alexia Mercieca as Titus the major-domo and Drusilia the maidservant and from Patrick Muscat as Julius, Paul’s Roman escort.

Jamie Camilleri (the apostle Paul) and Alvin Scicluna (Luke the evangelist), were convincing as the early Christian duo persuading the Romans to convert, and thence to convert the Maltese islands into the first Christian nation.

This all happened at a time – 60AD – when, Barker suggests, the Romans would have taught the locals how to pave roads properly, and how to drain them, and when there was “building, building, building, everywhere”.

This excellent new play should be a keeper for Malta, and could be revived to celebrate St Paul’s shipwreck, and also at Easter for, fairly obviously, it also goes into some detail about the Roman view of the trial of Jesus and of the crucifixion and resurrection.

A locally written play by a local author on a local theme with a local cast truly deserves applause and recognition. Gozo needs more like this.