Director: Chris Cooper
Cast: Manuel Cauchi, Pia Zammit, Jo Fuller, David Persiva, Victor Debono, Steve Hili, Simone Spiteri, Joseph Zammit, Philip Leone Ganado, Michael Zammit Maempel and Leander Schembri
This production is co-produced by Unifaun Theatre Productions and St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity.
On 8 March the performance starts at 7pm and will be followed by a discussion with the playwright. On other days the performance starts at 7.30pm.
Olly's Prison by English playwright Edward Bond, arguably UK's greatest and most influential playwright, was originally written as a TV series for the BBC. It will be directed by Bond-specialist director Chris Cooper, who has directed all of Edward Bond's recent work.
The play opens with a forty minute scene where a man tries to persuade his silent daughter to drink a cup of tea. We see how his character has struggled to maintain his self-respect despite not having a job, and living in a high-rise flat, and we see the anger in his character and how it has unforeseen repercussions for him and his family.
Mike (Manuel Cauchi) says that there is no difference between in prison and outside of it, and he is persecuted by a mad policeman. The play questions how society is obsessed by punishment, and that this creates the violence that it is supposed to be restraining.
Harrowing, but with streaks of jet-black humour, this play is not to be missed. Olly’s Prison contains scenes of violence. Recommended for 16 years or over.
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