Stitching author Anthony Neilson outside the law court in Valletta. Photo: Jason Borg

The local team behind the play Stitching have filed a case before the European Court of Human Rights insisting their right to freedom of expression was violated when the performance was banned four years ago.

“Here we are not just fighting to put up a play. We are fighting for the right to freedom of expression,” said Adrian Buckle, the artistic director of theatre company Unifaun.

The “fight” started in 2009 when Unifaun planned to stage Stitching at St James Cavalier in Valletta but it was banned by the now defunct Film and Stage Classification Board, causing a heated debate on censorship.

Without watching a performance, the board banned the play because of what it perceived as blasphemy, contempt for Auschwitz victims, dangerous sexual perversions, a eulogy to child murderers and references to the abduction, sexual assault and murder of children contained in the script.

The theatre company strongly contested the ban as a violation of its right to freedom of expression.

We are fighting for the right to freedom of expression

But the Civil Court ruled in 2010 that the ban was justified, prompting another appeal by Unifaun.

It then took the case to the Constitutional Court, the highest Maltese court.

Unifaun pointed out that Stitching, a 2002 play about a troubled couple written by Scottish playwright Anthony Neilson, had been performed all over the world by actors of different nationalities, including a well-known Jewish actress.

In a judgment handed down last November, the Constitutional Court argued that the fact that Stitching had been staged in other countries did not mean it was acceptable in Malta.

The State was bound to protect the country’s values and ensure the sensitivities of the “silent citizen” were not offended.

The court upheld the ban.

Soon after the court’s final decision, Unifaun announced its intention to take the case to Strasbourg saying that: “Ultimately, we feel this sentence is not a gag on the play Stitching, but on all artists.”

The judgment came the day before two enabling legal notices were due to be published in support of a new law introducing self-regulation by theatre producers.