At this time of year, Tony Bezzina is usually preparing for a 22-night sold-out run of the Christmas pantomime at the Manoel Theatre.
But with its cancellation due to COVID-19, the artistic director of Masquerade Malta has had to think a little differently to ensure that the show must go on.
And so on Thursday night, just four actors will take to the stage to perform an adaptation of Charles Dicken s A Christmas Carol in front of an audience a sixth of the theatre s usual size. It s a shame really to see the theatre like this when, had it been the panto, it would have been jam-packed, Bezzina said during dress rehearsals this week. But the scope behind it is to get people back into the theatre, to gain confidence with coming here and feel at ease.