It seems that whenever a new project is launched or is in the pipeline for Valletta, a stream of protests follows. Of course everyone is free to object when personal interests are at stake: from Monti hawkers to bus drivers, from the business community to horse-cab drivers - the latest being the theatre people.
Tenors, dancers, actors, performers and 'theatre users', whatever that may mean, have joined forces in protesting against Renzo Piano's proposal for the old opera house site. It seems the objection is more to the concept of an open-air theatre, on the ground that it will not offer a solution to the "huge shortcomings" found in other theatres.
As a layman I am somehow puzzled by what seems to me a lack of clarity here. With the shortcomings in our main local theatres referred to by the protesters, how is it that theatre events take place throughout the whole year? How is it that foreign opera companies regularly perform successfully in our theatres as do famous dance troupes, not to mention the fact that so many concerts, musicals, and plays, both traditional and experimental genres, are held and have become so popular?
Does such a packed cultural theatre calendar show the poverty of available facilities? On the other hand, if any problems, technical or structural, are being encountered in our theatres, cannot they be fixed?
Surely many theatres abroad, as do museums and galleries, regularly redesign their facilities to conform with the desired standards. Can this not also be done locally? Why do we have to expect the Piano project to resolve the matter with a magic wand, when the concept of the Valletta theatre is totally different from the ideas common in our local existing theatres?
It does seem that Piano's plans are for a totally new kind of theatre, not so much for its architectural features, but for presenting an innovative technological way to make theatre. I believe this innovative proposal offers an exciting challenge to a new breed of theatre performers in this 21st century, where the real and the virtual are made to co-exist in a comprehensive expression and interpretation of today's human experiences.
As for its aesthetic appeal, Piano's theatre simply respects the past and symbolically builds on it for the future. It would not be the first open-air theatre. The ancient Greeks built many of them, while the Valletta site itself has served a similar purpose for years now. The open-air theatre in London's Regent's Park is one contemporary example, housing only 200 people fewer than the 1,200 to be accommodated in the planned Valletta theatre, while the facilities are far fewer than those proposed by Piano. Nevertheless, Regent's Park Theatre has been a success and if one worries about our weather, think about England's.
Back to Piano's brief: why worry about a speck of dust on your seat when a splendid starry sky opens up above you and a cool breeze blows on a magnificent long Malta summer season? I say sit back and enjoy the spectacle.