To keep up with its regal appearance dating back to the times of the Knights, the Manoel Theatre received a significant facelift as part of the continuous refurbishment of this cultural hub – a new carpet covering the stairs, landings and all the boxes.

Sponsored by MSV Life, the project covers 600 square metres and comes in a gold and green patterned carpet.

“The design was created in-house and we chose a style that would be in harmony with the baroque fabric of the theatre, elegant but discreet and in a colour that is in sync with the rest of the theatre’s décor,” said Manoel Theatre chairman Michael Grech.

Classified by CNN as one of the 15 most spectacular theatres in the world, the theatre sees thousands of patrons coming through its doors during the nine-month performance season in addition to the thousands of tourists who visit the place all year round.

To accommodate this heavy traffic the new carpet is a woven, high-quality, heavy-duty carpet made of 80 per cent wool and 20 per cent from the Axminister collection Walk of Fame and was manufactured in Belgium.

Theatre CEO Ray Attard said: “We are working hard to restore the elegance and grandeur which so befits this great national gem, which is as much Maltese as it is part of our international heritage.”

The theatre has been undergoing meaningful facelifts which ensure its former glory is maintained while keeping up with the signs of the times.

In 2004, the team from the Sante Guido Restauro e Conservazione di Opere d’Arte unearthed paintings that could increase the knowledge and the understanding as to how the theatre developed over the centuries.

The findings emerged from beneath the flaking green paint on the top tier. Although the gallery was added in 1811, the restorers did not rule out that the paintings in its balconies could match the lower levels and, therefore, be the original designs dating back to 1731, the year the theatre was inaugurated.

Since then, the balconies would appear to have undergone four interventions: the discovered paintings on the canvas layer, the green paint over them, the panelling and the gilding.

After the first phase of the restoration of the panelling, the second phase followed with proper cleaning, removal of layers of dust and grime and the repair of breakages in the wooden, gilded decorations which were split in many areas.

www.teatrumanoel.com.mt