1985: A Midsummer Night’s Dream.MADC’s annual summer Shakespeare play, staged for over seven decades and only interrupted by the war, may not take place this year because a venue cannot be found.
To cancel this unique tradition which has been part of the local theatre scene for so many years is heartbreaking
The MADC committee took the decision to cancel this year’s play, Othello, after struggling to find a suitable place to stage it. But there still might be a glimmer of hope as the Culture Ministry has stepped in to help.
“Should a viable venue be secured within a workable timeframe, which is extremely tight now, MADC will endeavour to stage a production,” a spokesman for the club said.
The play’s director, Nanette Brimmer, said she was anxiously awaiting the outcome of this new development.
The MADC started performing the annual Shakespeare play at San Anton Gardens, Attard, 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 staging of the production prohibitive.
The first performance outside San Anton was successfully shifted to the Old Opera House site in Valletta and since then the Shakespeare play has been staged at Fort St Elmo, the MITP theatre’s courtyard and Maria Regina School.
Ms Brimmer said this year the company initially started looking at returning to Fort St Elmo, but embellishment works during the summer meant the plan had to be aborted.
About a dozen venues were explored but none of them was feasible as another event was being staged or they were unsuitable for the play.
Meanwhile, the leading actors had been cast, including an English actor to play the part of Othello. But as time passed without a secured venue, the British actor dropped out as he accepted another role in the UK.
With just eight weeks till the scheduled performance, the MADC committee decided it had no option but to cancel the production, she said.
“To cancel this unique tradition which has been part of the local theatre scene for so many years is heartbreaking, and although we have had the co-operation of many government departments… the stark truth is that finding a venue to substitute San Anton Gardens has been a Herculean task. It’s a sad turn of events, but that’s the reality of the situation,” Ms Brimmer said.
The MADC said: “It was with a heavy heart that MADC had to admit that after 70 years it would be impossible for our Shakespeare to take place.” However, hope was last to die. Edward Mercieca, chairman of the Association of Performing Arts Practitioners, resorted to the Culture Minister for help. “We’re sure that with the assistance from the Ministry of Culture we’d find a solution for a venue next year, if not also this year,” the club said.
Theatre veteran and St James Cavalier chairman Chris Gatt said MADC was partly to blame. “They did not seem to have the business acumen to make the changes necessary...
“On the other hand, we must not forget that the club is run for pleasure by committed individuals who already give a large proportion of their time to the club and to providing entertainment in Malta.”