It’s only a few weeks into the year but Masquerade have already announced some exciting plans for 2018. Coming up is the staging of Shelagh Stephenson’s critically acclaimed play The Memory of Water.
The play follows three sisters, Teresa, Mary and Catherine as they come together before their mother’s funeral, each battling the demons of their past. The play explores how each of them is affected by their mother’s death, and how even though they share memories, their recollections of the same events differ, causing great disagreement on what really happened.
As the three women get together after years of separation, all their hidden lies and self-betrayals are about to reach the surface in a play where the tragic and the comic live side by side to create a unique experience.
The cast includes some of the finest actors on the island. Performing at Blue Box for the first time are Pia Zammit, Coryse Borg and Kate De Cesare, with Kate working with Masquerade for the first time ever. Fresh out of the success of another edition of Comedy Knights Pia has quite an eclectic mix of lead roles in her repertoire ranging from Roxie in Chicago to Anna in Pinter’s Old Times and Maria in Twelfth Night. Fellow seasoned actress Coryse has an equally diverse body of work, having played characters such as Nadia in Some Explicit Polaroids, Katarina in The Taming of the Shrew and Maria in West Side Story. Completing the trio of Blue Box newbies is Kate whose credits include lead roles in Secret Bridesmaids Business, Arsenic & Old Lace and The Sound of Music.
In contrast, Nadia Vella started off at Masquerade having made her debut in the company’s production of Annie. Since then she has trained at Hertfordshire Theatre School in the UK and her most notable credits include She, Christine in The Phantom of the Opera, Helene in Sweet Charity and Maria in Lorca’s Yerma. Rounding up the cast is Webber Douglas Academy-trained Chris Dingli, whose recent theatre credits include Comedy Knights, Balzunetta Towers, God’s Official, The Odd Couple and Rock of Ages. Chris writes and performs in his own one-man shows, most notably in Bad Dad which will be performed in North America in 2018, following a run at the Fringe in August 2017.
Directing the talented cast is Stephen Oliver, who has worked professionally as an actor and director for over 25 years in the UK, USA and Europe. In Malta, his most noteworthy directing credits include Metamorphosis at Fort St. Elmo, Death & the Maiden at Blue Box, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest at the Manoel Theatre.
The Memory of Water is being staged at Blue Box, M Space on the 16th, 17th, 24th & 25th February. Tickets from € 15 from http://www.masquerademalta.com
(cast photography by Emma Micallef)