A few months ago, I was walking through Valletta, that noble dowager built by and for those erstwhile gentlemen, when I was accosted by a colleague. He stopped me to take umbrage with me over something I said on TV: it was my remark that Pjazza Teatru Rjal was a bit of a misnomer seeing that it is neither a piazza, nor a theatre, nor in any way royal.

A few weeks later, another colleague placed a photo on Facebook showing a full house and an expectant crowd waiting for a performance by the dance percussion group Stomp, commenting that whoever was against Pjazza Teatru Rjal project was absolutely stupid and that quality would always attract audiences.

Needless to say, as one of those ‘stupid’ people who had major misgivings about the project, it was my turn to take umbrage.

So far so good. However, a visit by architect Renzo Piano to open an exhibition about the City Gate project as well as a recent visit to Pjazza Teatru Rjal has finally prompted me to reopen this debate.

The first thing that struck me was how the exhibition and the talk were all about Parliament with the Pjazza Teatru Rjal space barely a mention.

The other thing that struck me was a wall of unsightly marine plywood boards which have been attached to the side of Pjazza Teatru Rjal. Once more my heart sank.

Before you think that I am laying all the blame at the door of Piano. Far from it. If it were not for him, there would be no performance space at all.

If nothing else, it is a suitable space for popular concerts like Brikkuni and Stomp. But this was really a space born under an ill-star and unloved by its owners. And, more importantly, it is not the space Piano built.

It is sometimes important to go back to the start of a project to remind ourselves what the original intentions of the project.

When it was first conceived, the space was meant to offer a flexible environment which allowed for a multiplicity of seating arrangements and included a high level of audio and visual technology.

The sound system was meant to recreate any kind of ambience suitable to the music in question. And one of our local architects spoke boldly (and somewhat foolishly) of projections replacing the need of any scenery. White sails would fly up the sides of the theatre serving as sound baffles and projection walls and all this would be complemented by a fully integrated recording and broadcasting system.

This was really a space born under an ill-star and unloved by its owners. More importantly, it is not the space Piano built

At one point, the first board, headed by the present CEO at PBS, Anton Attard (himself a rather strange but, in the government’s mind, safe choice for the project), brought in the well-known opera director Daniele Abbado to look into how to make best use of the space.

However, it looks like even then things were going awry. After spending a week on the island, ironically looking for a large enough internal space in which to rehearse, he made a quick exit.

Slowly but surely the project soon started falling apart. The flexible seating plans were thrown out, along with the sound panels.

An expensive lift system to create an orchestra pit or extended stage at the touch of a button was included but no money was to be had for a proper lighting system.

Instead, an unwieldy time-consuming light rigging system was installed but with very few lights to hang from them.

In came straight rows of green seating regardless of the horrible sight lines for those unfortunate enough to sit in the front row, out went proper backstage facilities (such as how do you place a grand piano on stage; answer, crane it in!).

We still do not have the final cost of the theatre, though the latest estimates is at around the €8 million mark.

Can we therefore consider this to have been value for money?

Well, interestingly enough, in almost the exact same period that Stomp was ‘stomping’ over at Pjazza Teatru Rjal, there were three other outdoor venues putting on performances.

The Kibbutx Contemporary Dance Company were performing at the Argotti Gardens, the Teatru Staġun Malti actors were performing Faith Hope u Charity at the newly-restored Fort St Elmo and the MADC was presenting Romeo & Juliet at San Anton Gardens.

All three groups offered exciting, intimate and exotic venues for their performances, giving audiences a wonderful ambience and, more importantly, none of the distractions and noise of nearby events and passers-by. (Remember those unsightly marine plywood boards I mentioned earlier?

I suspect that they were put up as a safe-face solution to those said distractions!) Best of all none of these pop-up theatres cost €8 million to create.

So what to do with the Pjazza Teatru Rjal?

Soon after the present government was elected, I sent an e-mail to the Prime Minister with a suggestion.

Apart from being a well-known architect, Piano started life as a musician, coming from a very musical family.

As our Malta Philharmonic Orchestra comes of age and spreads its wings abroad, it seems ironic that it still has no home to call its own.

Also it is no secret that the Maltese people as a whole are some of the most musical in Europe, with literally thousands of musicians and singers.

Piano has been at the forefront of creating music boxes that are designed to accommodate all types of music, from symphony orchestras to jazz concerts to electronic music and rock concerts.

Here’s what I suggested: would it not be a truly wonderful idea if we could finish off the Pjazza Teatru Rjal job and create a proper concert hall for all our very talented musicians and to do this in time for Valletta hosting of the European Capital of Culture?

Chris Gatt is a former director of St James Cavalier.