MADC presents a riotous double bill of two, one-act plays, White Liars/Black Comedy, by renowned British playwright Peter Shaffer, author of Amadeus and Equus! Join eccentric, hapless characters as they find themselves in sticky situations they must resolve, with plenty of laughs along the way at the MADC Playhouse.

Rambert Attard.

Stephanie Zammit Borg directs The 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.

The play, with Audrey Scerri, Rambert Attard and Jonathan Dunn, gradually reveals that all their stories, including that of the fortune-teller, are based on lies.

Kate De Cesare in Black Comedy.

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. Brindgley embellishes his London apartment by borrowing valuable furniture and antiques from his neighbour and friend Harold Gorringe, without his permission.

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. The results are chaotic, leading to much comic confusion all round.

Brindsley keeps his guests in the dark – both figuratively and literally, in a frantic romp with surprises lurking in every dark corner.

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, which has been described as “one of the funniest and most brilliant short plays in the English language” by the London Sunday Times.

Shaffer’s Double Bill takes place today and on February 3 to 5 at the MADC Playhouse, Santa Venera. Tickets are available online or by calling on 7777 6232 or by sending an e-mail to bookings@madc.com.mt.

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Francesca Briffa and Jovan Pisani.

Joe Depasquale and Francesca Briffa.