Performing later this month, MADC’s production of Alan Ayckbourn’s Farcicals is getting set to welcome audiences ready to have a good laugh.
Olivier and Tony Award-winning British playwright and director Sir Alan Ayckbourn penned Farcicals as two loosely connected one-act farces in one. Both Chloë With Love and The Kidderminster Affair can be performed on their own or as a double feature, with the same cast and characters.
In staging farce, Farcicals continues an age-old tradition that dates to the earliest days of theatre. Defined as a comedy that entertains through exaggerated, absurd and ridiculous situations, farce uses physical humour and silliness to mock reality. “Farce thrives on the absurdity of situations and characters – it pushes boundaries and challenges audience expectations to create comedy gold,” explains MADC’s artistic director, Stephen Oliver.
“It utilises physical comedy and adds an extra layer, together with slick timing, to make its full impact. Farces always have an element of tragedy, with the characters getting themselves into unavoidable and hilarious situations. We can all identify ourselves in many of farce’s characters.”
One of the world’s most renowned modern farce writers, Alan Ayckbourn taps into the comedy of embarrassment. In Farcicals, he ventures into the normal world of next-door neighbours – and turns it on its head, with hilarious results.
Chloë With Love introduces Teddy, whose marriage to Lottie is going through a rough patch, inspiring their neighbours Penny and Reggie to step in. While Penny chats with Lottie, Reggie resolves to help his best friend resist temptation – that is, until the voluptuous Chloë arrives.
Farces always have an element of tragedy, with the characters getting themselves into unavoidable and hilarious situations
The situation falls further into hysterically funny chaos at Teddy’s garden barbecue in The Kidderminster Affair. With sexual intrigue at every turn, Teddy worries that his secret liaison with Penny may be about to come out – or that Lottie may discover the awful truth about Kidderminster. And will the proverbial penny ever drop for Penny’s husband and Teddy’s best friend Reggie, amid barbecue bonfires and the mystery of the slow puncture?
Directed by Rachel Galea, MADC’s production of Farcicals stars Kate De Cesare, Aldo Zammit, Kim Woods and Gordon Watson. “The biggest challenge is to do justice to such a well-written script,” says Galea.
As the new artistic director at MADC – Malta’s longest-running theatre company – Stephen Oliver hopes to continue the club’s tradition of pushing the boundaries of theatre. “I am extremely flattered to inherit the tenure as artistic director from the great Marylu Coppini and am honoured that MADC has entrusted me with the artistic vision for the club,” he says.
MADC’s production of Alan Ayckbourn’s Farcicals will perform at the MADC Playhouse, Santa Venera, on April 12-14 and 19-21, 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.