Teatru Malta, together with the Malta International Arts Festival, will be presenting Pope Joan at the Mdina Ditch on Saturday. Directed by German-born Irene Christ, the show will mark her return to directing locally since 2008’s smash hit Tattoo by Dea Loher. 

The Pope Joan show has been in the works for months, with lead actress Maria Buckle rehearsing with the rest of the cast to tell the story of a prodigy who chooses to defy all odds by challenging the highly conservative male-dominated society she was born into. 

She focused on learning to read behind her father’s back by disguising herself as a boy to further her learning at a monastery where she’d be accepted as a male monk until eventually becoming, as legend has it, the first and only female pope to have ever lived.

This premiere will mark the first time that this production will be performed in English. 

The cast includes Antonella Axisa, Chris Galea, Faye Paris, Alan Paris, Mikhail Basmadjian, Alex Weenink, Michael Mangion, Joe Depasquale, Stephen Mintoff and Peter Galea, as well as young actors Ileana Sammut, Julian Zammit and Miguel Azzopardi.

It is suitable for audiences over the age of 14.

Pope Joan takes place at Mdina Ditch on Saturday and Sunday and between July 9 and 12 at 8.30pm. For tickets and more information visit kultura.mt.