Kate De Cesare in Black Comedy

MADC will delight audiences in a riotous double bill of two, one-act plays, White Liars and Black Comedy by renowned British playwright Peter Shaffer, author of Amadeus and Equus!

Stephanie Zammit Borg directs White Liars, where Sophie, a third-rate eccentric and disillusioned German fortune teller in a third-rate English seaside resort is visited by Frank, the lead singer of a rock band and Tom, his business manager who both want their fortunes told. In private consultations Frank says Tom is trying to lure away his girlfriend while Tom paints a very different picture. Things are not what they seem to be, and their lives turn out to be much stranger than the fiction Sophie tries to create in her magic ball.

Audrey Scerri, Rambert Attard and Jonathan Dunn are  the cast of White Liars.

Black Comedy, directed by Franco Rizzo, is a hilarious act of pure slapstick where desperate sculptor Brindsley and his fiancée Carol throw a party to impress her pompous father and a visiting wealthy art collector. Brindsley embellishes his London apartment by borrowing valuable furniture and antiques from his neighbour and friend Harold Gorringe, without his permission.

Daniel Walters in Black Comedy

The main fuse blows just before the guests arrive, plunging the flat into darkness. The stage lighting is reversed. When the stage is illuminated it means that the actors are in the dark and cannot see anything, but when the stage is dark only the audience can see the action. The results are chaotic, leading to much comic confusion all round.

Jovan Pisani, Kate De Cesare, Francesca Briffa, Stephen Oliver, Joe Depasquale, Joanna Lanna, Daniel Walters and Alan Attard are the cast of this unforgettable British comedy.

■ Shaffer’s double bill is being staged at the MADC Playhouse in Santa Venera from January 27 to 29 and from February 3 to 5. For tickets bookings@madc.com.mt and www.madc.com.mt.