Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot performed by Peter Busuttil's Fabbrika Fantastika was a remarkable Maltese adaptation of the play that has influenced generations of playwrights. Pino Scicluna who played Vladimir was in a class of his own. Samuel Beckett, born hundred years ago, was so impressed by Caravaggio’s The Beheading of St John the Baptist which he viewed while on holiday in Malta, he wrote one act play Not I to celebrate it.

De Redin Bastions, just beneath the Mdina Cathedral, was a spectacular venue for the performance. It was transformed 'from jungle to theatre' by the organisers since the location had not been used since Lysistrata by Aristophanes was staged in the early nineties by Joe Friggieri. The theme of that Greek play - featuring women who withold sex from their husbands to force them to secure peace and end the Peloponnesian War - was considered too hot for the Maltese church authorities. They subsequently denied any further use of the location for theatrical performance during all these years.

It was a long wait but thanks to the efforts by Peter and Pino, the place will hopefully be established once again as a venue for cultural events. It will shortly be hosting an evening of opera and song.

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