Local drama group Dramatis Personae will be returning to the Magazine Studio Theatre at the beginning of December with an original play by Gibraltarian playwright Julian Felice. In Jesus’ Name - an intense thriller about Internet scams - will be performed over three nights in the group’s second appearance at the alternative theatre venue following their successful production of Fanboy last year. 

Originally performed by Bayside & Westside Drama Group, the play won Best Original Play at the 2016 Gibraltar Drama Festival, and came third at that same year’s Duncan Rand Youth One-Act Play Festival, held at Medway Little Theatre. This time, however, the play is being staged with a predominantly adult cast that sees actors Sam Bush and Chris Ablitt reprise the roles they first played nine years ago, as the play’s central character and chief antagonist respectively. 

Kidnapped in Liberia after chasing a romantic interest he met online (the vulnerable Mariana, played by Maria James), Sam’s Tony finds himself very much in the clutches of a shadowy figure who claims to be a lawyer called Frank, played by Chris. In the meantime, back in the United Kingdom, Tony’s parents - played by John Charles Guy and Nyree Turnock Robinson - deal with other struggles, with Jasmine Jarman (as Tony’s nosy colleague Sarah), Nicholas Raggio (as the benevolent Reverend) and Julian himself (as Tony’s best friend Matt) rounding off a cast that has won thirteen acting awards between them. The cast remains onstage at all times as the story jumps in time and place in a seamless fashion. 

Performances run from the 5th to the 7th December, starting at 8pm, with tickets available from www.buytickets.gi