Premiering on Broadway in 1941, Arsenic and Old Lace is finally open to the Maltese public at the Manoel Theatre under the direction of Josette Ciappara. With whimsical touches and a powerhouse cast, the production strikes a balance between audience expectations (brought on by the 1944 film, starring Cary Grant and Peter Lorre) and some zany innovations all its own.

This journey to the Moon had not started well and showed no signs of improving the longer she waited, in the back of a four seater Minx 18v (“a Supercraft for all Tides!” “Style your Speed”) drinking luke-warm coffee out of a thermos the same shade of pink as the boat’s droop-snout bow and broad [...]

Part 1 Part 2 The three children stood around the rusty red stove incongruously placed in the centre of the beach. None of them dared open it for fear they might be returned, just as quickly as they had escaped, to the witch’s kitchen. The weak sunlight disappeared behind rolling storm clouds and Katya shivered. [...]

Part 1 That night, the two boys met in the orchard behind the old woman’s house. Pawlu brought petrol in two plastic bottles stolen from a large barrel outside his father’s garage – the smell burned his nostrils and made him feel dizzy. Tumas brought rags as long as he was tall, bundled up under [...]

Three children sat in their secret place, hidden from the world under the old bridge. Bamboo grew tall on either side of them, further filtering the weak sunlight – a small stream flowed here during the winter but the rain hadn’t been heavy enough to flood it. They were surrounded by mud, soggy weeds and [...]

by Pete Farrugia The Man is injured, possibly dying. This is by no means unexpected (he has approached death in many different ways on a variety of occasions) and the wounds on his arm and leg do not worry him much. He ties a rag around his arm and works ashes into the gash on [...]

A is for All the things not on this list. B is a Bear going Bump Bump Bump down the stairs, Behind a child who will always remember that sound. C is for “all the Cavities of the Coynte and the inability to stiffen a swivelling tongue more polluted than the Cheeks of a suburban [...]