The Malta Independent on Sunday
Double the laughs! Booking opens for Alan Ayckbourn’s ‘Farcicals’
Two hilarious Ayckbourn farces in one will make for a relaxed evening full of laughs at the MADC Playhouse this April.
Comedy enthusiasts will love MADC’s new production of Alan Ayckbourn’s Farcicals, set to tickle the funny bone of audiences next month.
Farcicals combines two loosely connected one-act farces in one, featuring the same four characters and the same cast. Olivier and Tony Award-winning British playwright and acclaimed director Sir Alan Ayckbourn crafted the plays – Chloë With Love and The Kidderminster Affair – so that they can be enjoyed either separately or together.
Starring Kate De Cesare, Aldo Zammit, Kim Woods and Gordon Watson, and directed by Rachel Galea, Farcicals will perform at the MADC Playhouse in Santa Venera on 12, 13, 14 and 19, 20, 21 April.
“We can’t wait to welcome audiences for a relaxed evening full of fun and farce at the MADC Playhouse this April,” says MADC’s new Artistic Director, Stephen Oliver. “Alan Ayckbourn’s Farcicals are a wild ride into the quirks of human behaviour, where every mix-up leads to side-splitting laughter. Farce remains a hit in Malta because it’s both relatable and hilarious, offering us all a chance to unwind. And who doesn’t love a good laugh at life’s absurd moments?”
In Chloë With Love, Teddy’s marriage to Lottie is going through a difficult period. He’s not sure if he still loves Lottie or even if she still loves him – so next-door neighbours Penny and Reggie come to their rescue. While Penny weighs in to help Lottie, Reggie resolves to help his best friend resist temptation – but all their best laid schemes are put to the test, when the voluptuous Chloë arrives.
The Kidderminster Affair continues their story at Teddy’s garden barbecue. Teeming with sexual intrigue, Teddy worries that his secret liaison with his neighbour, Penny, may be about to leak out, or that his wife, Lottie, might discover the awful truth about Kidderminster. And will Penny’s husband and Teddy’s best friend Reggie ever get hold of the right end of the stick? Will he burn the barbecue? Or, indeed, resolve the mystery of the slow puncture?
One of the world’s most wellknown and prolific playwrights, Sir Alan Ayckbourn has penned 90 full-length plays to-date. He was the Artistic Director of the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough from 1972 to 2009, which commissioned him to write Farcicals.
MADC’s production of Alan Ayckbourn’s Farcicals will perform at the MADC Playhouse, Santa Venera, on 12, 13, 14 and 19, 20, 21 April 2024, with all performances at 7.30pm. This production is suitable for audiences aged 14 and over. Booking is now open at www.madc.com.mt. This amateur production of Farcicals is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals Ltd on behalf of Samuel French Ltd: www.concordtheatricals.co.uk.