Published on Monday 16 May 2016

The final two events for the Malta International Arts Festival 2016 have been announced, early bird tickets are now on sale.

The final two events for the Malta International Arts Festival 2016 have been announced, and the full programme is now online on www.maltaartsfestival.org. Adding to the varied programme – which includes world-renowned artists such as Arvo Pärt, BalletBoyz and the Vertical Waves Project as well as local artists which are proving their worth away from our shores, such as the ŻfinMalta Dance Ensemble among others – there are now two innovative theatre productions which engage audiences in different ways.

Please, Continue (Hamlet) is a unique theatre experience, during which members of the audience will participate directly, blurring the boundaries between fiction and reality. The performance is structured like a criminal court trial, with the jury randomly made up of audience members who are informed of the elements of the case at hand. In the presence of the judge, the audience will then deliberate on the guilt or innocence of the accused. Please, Continue (Hamlet), which will take place on 17 July, stimulates and provokes the civic sense in each spectator as it relates to the idea of justice and touches on the gap between their personal sense of justice and the state-defined one.

B'Tal-Linja Jaqbillek Żgur!, produced and directed by Sean Buhagiar and scripted by Simon Bartolo, is a fresh theatre experience that will tour a number of open spaces around the Maltese islands, turning them into a stage. The story revolves around a Maltese bus which, actually, will be the cast's touring vehicle. The audience will be invited to watch the live performance up-close and personal. Everyone will experience it differently: you can get chairs, stand-up, sit down on the zuntier, at the cafeteria close-by, or just in front of the actors. Think of the audience watching the purċissjoni ritual, the lovely tradition of teatrin, the conversations għana-style spiced up with a pinch of carnival, a dose of festa, and a spoonful of Maltese humour. All this put in a contemporary pot, stirred well and delivered to a space near you! This project is co-funded by FOPSIM through the EU Collective Plays! project which is funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.

Details about all the events, including venues and pricing, are available online on the festival's web page (www.maltaartsfestival.org). Early bird tickets, which are now on sale, can be purchased from www.teatrumanoel.com.mt or from the Teatru Manoel booking office. Culture Vulture packages are also available, with further reductions on ticket prices when tickets for three or more performances are purchased together, thus making the events more accessible. Children under 12 accompanied by an adult are admitted free of charge to all shows, though tickets for them have to be booked in advance. Students and senior citizens can also benefit from discounted prices on presentation of relevant identification.

Programme details: www.maltaartsfestival.org

Tickets: www.teatrumanoel.com.mt