Why do people go to the theatre?
“The majority go to laugh… because laughter is the best medicine,” says Narcy Calamatta, the writer-director of three short comedies in English being staged at the MITP on Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m.
The programme is called 1, 2, 3… Love but Mr Calamatta insists it should be called 1, 2, 3… Laugh.
The first 15-minuter is V In Love, which Mr Calamatta wrote as an audio play for Norbert F. Attard’s installation at the recently-restored Strait Street public convenience, The V Paradigm. It is a soul-searching exchange between two prostitutes hiding in a cubicle in a gent’s toilet after a bar brawl.
The second is called Madderley Love, originally written for an international conference for nurses working in mental health institutions. The story is about a possessive mother who refuses to cut the umbilical cord from her 30-year-old son. “I had seen a short comedy with a similar premise in an underground theatre in Notting Hill, performed by the Monty Python clowns back in 1968,” said Mr Calamatta, acknowledging his source of inspiration for this particular piece.
The third play is the English version of Love Potion For Arlecchino, originally performed at the Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce last year. Since then, it has become Zararti’s battle steed, for they have already performed it 10 times in five different venues in the Maltese version. Following the Malta run, it will be performed at the Munich University Studio Buhn later this month.
The many young Zararti regular actors, like Anna Bassily who plays Vicky in V, are joined by veteran Marvic Cordina who plays Tracy. A young leading lady in Love Potion is a talented Israeli actress Almog Pail. Malcolm Vella King, the current definitive Arlecchino, is once again the king pin in the commedia, as well as Dicky – the male end of the umbilical cord in Madderly Love. Monty Python aficionado Chris (Krispi) Spiteri will be Dicky’s mother, Mrs M. Olivia Ann Marmarà is reprising her Maltese role Cenerentola in English with a Venetian accent, while Mr Calamatta will be the merchant of Venice, Pantalone.
• Tickets may be obtained from St James Cavalier by phone on 2122 3200 or e-mail: boxoffice@sjcav.org. For more information phone: 9945 8580 or e-mail: zararti@yahoo.com.