On December 27, I made an exception and decided to watch Bondìplus. I took this decision because I happen to enjoy the experience of everything that is theatre-related and this particular programme was addressing the traditional Christmas pantomimes.

So I settled down in my armchair anticipating an enjoyable time in front of the TV.

I regret to say that by the end of the programme I was disgusted as well as disappointed for the simple reason that the programme featured only three of the four main current pantomimes. The pantomime Salvani Zorro Salvani by Bronk Productions was completely left out.

I am sure the cast of Salvani Zorro Salvani worked as hard and endured the sacrifices such performances entail as much as the casts of the other three pantos.

Bronk’s pantomime featured the traditional dame too and it also contained all the panto’s ingredients, making it a successful one. The fact that Sir Temi Zammit Theatre was packed with a delightful audience for every performance and brought the house down with its laughter and applause evinces that Salvani Zorro Salvani deserved at least a reasonable slot in the programme in question. So why was this pantomime ignored by Lou Bondì?

In this context, my question is: What did the pantomimes, Cinderella, Scrooge and Ziggie Lulu have which the pantomime Salvani Zorro Salvani did not have? Does Mr Bondì have an answer to justify the exclusion of Bronk’s pantomime from his programme? I very much doubt it.

One thing I know for sure is that I made this one exception. I will certainly never repeat it.