Cistern act

The cistern at the St James Centre For Creativity - otherwise known as the theatre-in-the-round - will be particularly in demand this month. No, there hasn't been a nasty bout of the runs in Castille Square, instead there will be no fewer than three productions filling up the acting space.

First in will be Drama Troupe's production of Engelbert Humperdinck's opera Hansel and Gretel. This plays from tonight up to Sunday at 8 p.m each evening. This magical fairytale with its wicked witch, a gingerbread house and brother and sister protagonists should be ideal fare for the whole family. This is followed into the theatre the following weekend by Lino Farrugia's drama in Maltese Mor. This we cover in more detail on page two. Mor will run for two successive weekends at St James. The third production to play at St James this month will be Teatru Qroqq's take on the Roald Dahl story Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. This is typical Dahl country and has inspired two movie versions. Probably the most memorable was the 1971 version, entitled Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. It was directed by Mel Stuart and starred Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka. The latest version was made in 2005, entitled Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

This was directed by Tim Burton and had as its protagonist, Johnny Depp as Willy. There will be two performances of the stage version for adults on April 26 and 27. There will also be performances for schools at various times on April 24, 25, 28 and 29. There are just two days remaining of Raphael Vella's original and often disturbing art exhibition Reading Cabinets. This has been set up in the downstairs corridor at St James and ends on Sunday and if you haven't seen it yet, it really is well worth a look.

From tomorrow until May 5 there will be another, but completely different, art exhibition at St James. This will be a showing by artist Patrick Dalli, which he is calling The Human Figure. It is fair to say that Mr Dalli has made something of a name for himself as one of our leading figurative artists.

Music always features large in the St James calendar and this month is certainly no exception. The second in the current series of Teddy Bear concerts (Which incidentally are part of the Year of Intercultural Dialogue) will be held on April 20. This series of Sunday afternoon musical recitals for kids aged between five and 12 are hugely popular. This month Teddy's musical afternoon will have a very Irish flavour. Sarah Spiteri, who organises these afternoons - as well as playing Teddy, is probably doing more than anybody to encourage youngsters to develop an early love for music, that should stay with them for the whole of their lives.

The St James Centre is always busy, but just lately it seems to be even more hectic. Besides acting as the fulcrum for the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue, the European Film Week is based in the centre this month (see page 11) and from April 7 to 13 the National Students Travel Foundation NSTF will be organising a Science Week at St James. So if at any time you find yourself at a loose end this month, toddle along to the St James Centre For Creativity, there's bound to be something there to interest you.