The shock a saint feels when he descends on earth to observe how his feast is celebrated in our country was overwhelming. A saint who finds a small boy as his only ally and the rest of the town against him.

This is a new spectacular social comedy about feasts, with the inclusion of popular band marches customarily heard in feasts from our bands. In this work the difference between the original aim of feasts and how we quite often transform them to fit our purposes is evident.

St Crispin came to know from someone in heaven how well his feast was celebrated. Saints are well aware how feasts are pompously organised in their honour in Malta.

This third century saint, St Crispin, is venerated by a feast in one of the island’s localities. He is a saint who lived in poverty, was martyred and venerated as the patron saint of cobblers.

This saint told St Peter that his wish was that for once he could descend to enjoy his feast on earth, or to be more precise, in our country. St Peter was opposed to Crispin’s idea, because he was well aware how Malta’s feasts are not wholesomely religious. Nevetheless, Crispin’s pleas were heard and Peter gave in.

Everything was to Crispin’s heart’s content. The world changed since his last sojourn in it. In this locality, the streets are decorated sumptuously for his feast, and the place could not be more delightful. This heartens Crispin as regardless of what St Peter told him, there was nothing that one could complain about.

Crispin is delighted to hear the approaching band marches. He falls instantly in love with the distant music and tries to imagine the praises to God sung to such sweet melodies.

But he gets a cold shower when the marching band approaches nearby while ‘his’ supporters were singing dispregative lyrics towards ‘the other side’, St Catald that is.

St Catald and St Crispin are great friends in heaven. He also notices that brawls are easy to occur in these marches. However, how do the locals greet him? Do they accept him in their feast? Do they believe him when he tells them he is indeed St Crispin?

Written by Joe Julian Farrugia  and directed by Mario Micallef, Festa tal-Qaddisin, Ħadd ma jista’ għalina! has a melange of well-known actors and some other new ones, including Renato Dimech, Joe Quattromani, Manuel Cassar, Marvic Cordina, Silvio Axisa, Aiken Buhagiar, Jurgen Ciantar, Shelby Aquilina, Claudia Mizzi, Dolan Debattista, Patrick Tanti, Veronica Mizzi, Josette Ellul, Orietta Cardona and Jake Cauchi.

The play is on at the Manoel Theatre, Valletta, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are available from www.teatrumanoel.mt or by e-mail on bookings@teatrumanoel.mt (tel: 2124 6389).

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