Actors have been practising their lines for months.Actors have been practising their lines for months.

A group of women are busy practising their moves and lines for a charity fundraising event on Saturday.

The panto, Puss in Boots, will be held at the Forum Room, Topaz Hotel, St Paul’s Bay, – with a show at 2.30pm and another at 7.30pm. Funds raised will go towards helping Caritas. Doors open an hour before each show. Tickets may be purchased at the premises.

Tina Overton and Barbara Zammit form part of the group Drama Queens of Malta, an amateur dramatic society for women. The youngest member is 18 and the eldest is 83 years old.

The actors have been studying their lines since April last year and rehearsals started in September.

The rehearsals have had to be planned around other commitments the members have, since some of them undertake voluntary work in charity shops while others still work part-time.

Although Drama Queens is a ‘ladies only’ group, there is one exception: the production, props and scenery person – Ivor – the husband of one of the members.

Puss in Boots (as we know it today) first originated as a fable written by Giovanni Straparola in (1480-1557). However, Puss in Boots, over time, became a well-known fairy story written by Charles Perrault (1629-1703).

It is about the third and youngest son who gets the worst part of an inheritance, this being the family cat, believed to be a useless animal.

Nevertheless, in this fairytale, the main character, Cat, presents the qualities of intelligence, bravery, wittiness and a gift for wily planning.

Through taking advantage of opportunities presented, the cat manages to persuade the king that his young master is not only the only person who can rid the kingdom of the terrible ogre, he is also the right person for the princess to marry.

As with all fairytales there is a mixture of drama, suspension of disbelief, fun, laughter, audience participation and a happy ending.

The moral of the story being that a man should always rely on his own abilities and that it is important to believe in yourself and be the creator of your own luck.

The main aim for Drama Queens of Malta has always been to fund raise for local charities. Without regular donations, they simply wouldn’t be able to function and carry out the good work that they do, the group said.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.