Amadeus

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is arguably one of the finest and best loved composers of all time. So it may come as something of a shock to some of his devotees to see him depicted as, shall we say, less than a paragon. But it ought to come as no real surprise to hear that Mozart, despite his genius, was human….the same as the rest of us. His portrayal, warts and all, in Peter Shaffer’s acclaimed play, caused quite a kafuffle when Amadeus opened at the English National Theatre in 1979. Nonetheless it was acclaimed by far more critics than denigrated it. It also won the prestigious ‘Evening Standard Drama Award’, the ‘Plays and Players Award’ and ‘the London Theatre Critics Award’. It also ran on Broadway for over 1000 performances. Many people may have seen the film version, directed by Milos Foreman, which cleaned up at the Oscars ceremony. The eponymous role of Mozart has been played by Simon Callow, Tim Curry and....in the film, by Tom Hulce.

Amadeus is a huge, huge play, and one, which many an established drama company would think twice about mounting. No such inhibitions have daunted the ground breaking young company, Masquerade. Director, anthony bezzina is positively relishing the prospect of bringing Shaffer’s masterwork to Manoel Theatre patrons. He has assembled a formidable, not to say awesome cast.

Raving reviews from the critics and general public:

The Times - 28.02.02 – Norbert Ellul Vincenti

“ Masquerade’s Amadeus by Peter Shaffer was directed by Anthony bezzina in a slick, ornate and splendidly set production. Rarely, if ever, have we seen such fantastically rich costumes and delicate coiffures and wigs. The production went right over the top for these…The set was beautifully based on cut-out flats of baroque architecture..”

“Pride of place must go to Jon Rosser for a really all-round and deeply-felt Salieri.”

The Sunday Times – 03.03.02 – Paul Xuereb

“The action is fluid but always clear, and the play keeps moving without delays on Harry Borg’s excellent set, backed by the fine transparencies projected in a large light box placed upstage. Anthony Bezzina has found a good balance between the scenes of great activity and those where time stands still as a momentuous event occurs….”

“Chris Dingli is an excellent Mozart.”

The Times – 11.05.02 – I.M. Beck

“This was a production that rivalled the best of the professionals..”

“Jon Rosser as Salieri was pretty darn good. The rest of the cast was almost as good and the set was excellent”.

Sir John Justin Walton Ives – 12.03.02

“We were astounded by the professionalism displayed on this small stage”

“Jon Rosser as Salieri was superb. He was a great asset and without his comic/pathos the play would have had no core”.

“On the whole a memorable experience”.