What do Lou Bondì, Andrew Borg Cardona, Peter Fenech and Roamer have in common? They waste much time and column space in rubbishing calls for the rebuilding of an opera house, when nobody is calling for an "opera house" at all but for a national theatre.
Why are they all ignoring the obvious point that the people are not asking for an "opera house" but for a "multi-functional theatre"? Is it possible that they have all overlooked the fact that, besides opera, there is strong demand for orchestral concerts, ballet, musicals and stage plays, which cannot be staged at either the Manoel Theatre or the Mediterranean Conference Centre because of lack of space, poor stage facilities or abysmal acoustics? I don't think so.
This starts to look suspiciously like a very subtle campaign to convince the public that rebuilding the site of the Royal Opera House is a very bad idea. Could this be a prelude to what is to come in the Renzo Piano plans?
Mr Fenech and company have tried to convince us that we are well served with a small gem of a theatre and a larger one which lacks the most basic facilities that even 17th century theatres enjoyed, such as wings and manageable flies for changes of scenes, not to mention those all-important features of ambiance and acoustics. In fact a local personality relates how, on visiting the MCC auditorium, a world-renowned impresario exclaimed "My God, I've seen ugly theatres but this is the ugliest!"
Can they all have forgotten the highly public spats between our larger drama companies who struggle to book these theatres which obviously do not have enough capacity to cater for the demand? Are they not aware that Malta's philharmonic orchestra no longer fits on the Manoel stage while the MCC's bad acoustics are what they are? Or that Malta's 27 ballet schools do not have a suitable stage to perform on, as the MCC is far too shallow? Or that in bad weather rain drips onto the stage?
In their haste to write off the rebuilding of the opera house, these columnists try to discredit the Gozo opera houses' success, and overlook the fact that there is a strong demand for large-scale concerts for cruise passengers which cannot be met for lack of facilities.
What about income from the sell-out concerts we have become used to? If stars like Elton John, Renzo Arbore, Andrea Bocelli or our own Joseph Calleja were asked to choose between performing in a draughty tent with the acoustics of a hangar, or a national theatre, they would most likely choose the theatre. Could it be that someone is trying to protect the tent against unwelcome competition?
Far from being an elitist extravagance, as Mr Bondì tried to make out, a well-managed theatre close to a public transport hub would not only be accessible to a much wider audience including elderly people who love theatre, but it would generate income for all of Malta, by attracting high-quality, off-peak cultural tourism, helping to turn Malta into a cultural centre for tourism.
The authorities in Prague had the sense to realise this and, as a result, that city is thronged with tourists all the year round in spite of its inclement weather and indifferent service. Will €80 million spent on a Parliament achieve that? I think not.