Malta is about to get its first taste of one of London’s most celebrated Fringe-style musical comedy productions live at Theatre Next Door for a limited performance run in May.
String V SPITTA is the brainchild of Kiell Smith-Bynoe (known for BBC’s Ghosts and Taskmaster) and multi-instrumentalist comedian and composer Ed MacArthur (Ted Lasso). Directed by George Chilcott, an award-nominated theatre director, this fast-paced, 60-minute show is best described as a late-night kids’ party for adults.
The show follows classically trained musical virtuoso Sylvester ‘Silly’ String as the most in-demand children’s entertainer in the lucrative West London kids’ parties market. That is, until MC SPITTA arrives – a rap and grime-obsessed maverick from East London who has shaken up the scene practically overnight. When these two sworn rivals find themselves forced to work together at the biggest kids’ party gig in the city – a Russian oligarch’s daughter’s sixth birthday party – they’ll do anything to be number one.
“String V SPITTA is unlike anything else out there”
The result is a kids’ party for grown-ups, full of live music, freestyle rap, singalongs and magic tricks, with the audience cast as party guests from the moment they walk through the door.
String V SPITTA has spent the past four years selling out multiple runs at London’s Soho Theatre and the Edinburgh Fringe, receiving five-star reviews from The Independent, which called it “so ingenious, it’s hard to believe it hasn’t been done before” and from West End Best Friend, which described it as “brilliant, consistently impressive and increasingly funny”. Beyond further critical acclaim from The Guardian, Scottish Daily Mail and The Skinny, among others, the show has even been commissioned for a BBC television pilot.
“String V SPITTA is unlike anything else out there,” said Jo Caruana, producer and founder of Finesse Events, which is bringing the show to Malta.
A Maltese actress and founding cast member of the sell-out Comedy Knights, Jo’s own stage credits also include Gwendoline in Ernest and the Pale Moon for the Shrinking Violets – for which she is also a founding producer – and Elle in Legally Blonde.
“I saw the show in Edinburgh, adored it, and decided there and then to bring it to Malta. Come ready for a serious laugh.”
String V SPITTA performs at Theatre Next Door, Triq il-Kappella ta’ Santa Marija, Magħtab, at 7.30 and 9.30pm on May 9 and at 7.30pm on May 10. Due to strong language, this production is suitable for audiences aged 16 and over. Booking is open at www.fmt.com.mt/tnd. Due to limited capacity and the show’s history of selling out, early booking is advised.
