MADC actors donned their heavy costumes last night and put on their make-up to keep their yearly appointment with Shakespeare and return to their roots in the lush gardens of San Anton.

Reviving a 74-year-old tradition, the Bard’s play The Winter’s Tale is directed by Polly March and includes Nicola Abela Garret, Joe Depasquale, Coryse Borg and Nathan Brimmer among its cast.

Although Ms March admitted choosing The Winter’s Tale might seem “a little strange”, especially in summer, she pointed out that the core of the play was the Bohemian sheep-shearing feast, which usually took place in the last two weeks of July.

First staged in 1938, the performance became a yearly tradition that was only interrupted by World War II after which it resumed up until 2006 when the new San Anton Gardens management raised the fees, making the production costs prohibitive.

This year too it almost risked being cancelled because no venue had been secured but the Association for Performing Arts Practitioners and the Culture Ministry stepped in at the last minute.

The play will run until July 29.

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