A national theatre for the glory of the capital city

Renzo Piano says that he has persuaded the Prime Minister not to build Parliament on the ex-Opera House site. This makes sense, but on the other hand by building Parliament in the Freedom Square area Mr Piano may unwittingly be compromising forever the possibility of having a state-of-the-art national theatre on the ex-Opera House site and the adjoining area.

It would be unpardonable if this were to happen in order to build Parliament. There is no doubt that Parliament needs to move out of the Presidential Palace and be equipped with proper facilities. But rather than clutter the entrance area of Valletta, has Mr Piano been briefed to explore the possibility of housing Parliament in one of the beautiful auberges that adorn Valletta? The resultant expense would be far less than a new building, and the saving could be employed to build the national theatre, with up-to-date amenities, which Valletta culturally deserves. If we really intend to restore the glory of our capital city, we must not forego building a national theatre.

Besides, a roofless theatre makes no sense in windy, dusty, noisy Malta and such an eventuality would only attract second or third rate performers to the theatre. So instead of enhancing Valletta as a cultural city, we would be degrading it in importance.

Please, therefore, let us indeed make a leap in quality and take the right steps to accommodate Parliament, as is necessary, but not at the expense of having a magnificent national theatre where it belongs. This we must do for posterity, thereby emulating our forefathers.