'Revised' play tells story of an uprising

Nineteen years on, one of the best plays by a Maltese playwright is being revived.

Playwright Alfred Buttigieg has revised his play to bring back to life the mischievious but thought-provoking work Ir-Rewwixta tal-Qassisin (The Priests' Uprising).

This play-within-a-play is about a group of late 18th-century students who make havoc of their headmaster's plans to make them perform a heroic representation of a revolt attempted by a group of priests 20 years earlier.

When the play was produced in 1986, many were those who commented that the work was at least as much about late 20th century Malta as it was about the 18th century.

Ir-Rewwixta tal-Qassisin, will be presented at the Manoel Theatre on February 25-27.

It is produced and directed by Michael Fenech, and Manoel Pirotta, who composed the score for the original production, has again been roped in.

The performers include Manuel Cauchi, Joe Cortis, Philip Mizzi, Leigh-Anne Abela, Simone Zammit and Jesmond Tedesco Triccas.

Ir-Rewwixta tal-Qassisin is sponsored by Bank of Valletta, Go Mobile and the Malta Council for Culture and The Arts.

Booking is from the Manoel Theatre, online via www.teatrumanoel.com or by telephone on 2124 6389.