The opera house: My heritage

Last month, I went to the Dublin Gate theatre for the first time. I saw the bust of iconic actor, the late Hilton Edwards. He had come to my flat in London for a party I gave for my fellow actors on a BBC film. He spoke with pride of his performance in Macbeth at the Royal Opera House in Valletta. He was thrilled when I told him that one of the performances was the honeymoon treat for my parents.

When I was a volunteer on the Manoel Theatre Management Committee in the 1970s I had organised a theatre poster exhibition to honour my fellow designers. Manoel Theatre chairman Bertie Agius Ferrante had offered me a collection of hand bills from the archives also covering performances at the Royal Opera House dating back to before 1880.

The exhibition was a huge success. Over 300 people signed the visitors' book. We extended the exhibition to eight weeks. To my surprise people were coming in not to admire the contemporary modern posters but to thrill themselves spotting famous names. Vanda Osiris, Michael MacLiammoir, Tito Gobbi, Joe Satariano and many others who grace the halls of fame of Europe. I had the distinct honour to tour the Irjal posters with poet/playwright Vincenzo Maria Pellegrini. He even told me of extant hand-bill sonnets written in praise of a diva or other, which were flung from the gods by the paid claque after a triumphant aria. "How fortunate," I remember thinking, "for these people to have shared such glorious times of Malta's high culture".

I had done a radio programme once revisiting the popular folk sonnets sung to well known tunes of lyric opera. We still know Bravu Ċirillu to the Toreador's theme of Bizet's Carmen. We may not know the reason why ta' La Vallette band had started it all but it is part of our folklore.

The common man used to aspire to go the Irjal at least once a year. Naughty ones like my uncle Sonny used to wrap hard, raw chestnuts in cigarette packet silver paper and display them in a chocolate box on the edge of the upper theatre boxes. They just waited for a euphoric moment of audience delirium to pelt the audience with hard pseudo pralines. The Irjal belonged to the people; it was their home.

David Niven, the Hollywood actor, had mentioned the Irjal in his auto-biography when describing a prank he did, which backfired, during a carnival ball. Aficionados of theatre history in Malta know much more than I do when it comes to anecdotes and records of the Royal Opera House, Valetta. This rich heritage is an important feature in our national identity. The Royal Opera House has been artistically and architecturally a signature landmark since 1860 and in the last 60 years a badge of national bravery.

That is why I cannot understand how there are Maltese citizens advising the government not to rebuild the national theatre on its original site. Who are these insensitive people?

How can they ever decide on the size and use of space if they have not lived the life of theatre practitioners? When I attended a course at Heritage Malta for potential cultural managers under Prof. Prandine, three years ago, he had emphasised that only artists with experience should occupy such posts. No outsider can have the right spirit.

I am going to do all I can to persuade the powers that be to re-build the national theatre on its legitimate historical site. If they do that, they will have a future monument to their temporary governance. If not, they will go down in history as the traitors of Malta's national heritage and identity. I augur the powers that be the more honourable outcome.