No doubt the interview with the chairman of the National Theatre and The Mediterranean Conference Centre has made many people see red, and with good reason.
One may ask, how come that Peter Fenech, who has been chairman for a number of years, has such a defeatist attitude on the building of the Opera House? He "...strongly opposes the building of another Opera House...". May one ask Dr Fenech: where are the other opera houses? Surely not the Manoel Theatre or the MCC? Obviously the chairman does not know the proper definition of "opera house" and showed how ignorant he is in this area of the performing arts.
He also claims that he "has the experience of the BoV Opera Festival to back him and still the festival made a loss of €90,000". Could it be that like the many online comments in response to Dr Fenech's interview, most theatre goers are snubbed by the elitist attitude coming mainly from the committee and the chairman himself? The interview shows how he looks down at those whom he needs.
His comments and self-opinionated attitude insults opera lovers. He obviously has no respect at all for the increasing talent that is so evident today in Maltese potential opera performers. How can Dr Fenech criticise our pride and joy Joseph Calleja's pleas for an opera house? Why is it that before he was appointed chairman, the opera festival thrived and one could not get tickets for love or money?
When one talks about the function of the Manoel Theatre, one should be very proud to have such a jewel in our old city. If managed properly it will still do well, but it certainly cannot accommodate large opera productions for several reasons. Bad management in the last few years has made the venue unpopular. Not enough money has been spent to update the stage functionality and the training of staff and stage management. Yet the Manoel charges ridiculous fees for what it can offer. It has taken years to open the new backstage area of dressing rooms and still to this day the performers, national and international, have to sit in rabbit hutches for dressing rooms. It is so embarrassing. Most of the staff has been there too long and some of them, like the pensioned committee, think they own the place. There is lack of communication, interpersonal and communication skills. Nepotism and monopoly are rife.
All these things put together give a very dim future for the Manoel Theatre.
As for the Mediterranean Conference Centre, it is a grand venue, but once again a management team without performing arts expertise have been appointed. The stage and orchestra pit have not been updated with the latest technology. Dressing rooms are like dungeons and not fit for any human to work in such environment. Box office is a huge joke and an embarrassment to all who use it. Catering is another big joke and totally inefficient. Parking is a disastrous situation; no wonder theatre goers are giving up. Why should they go through all this harassment when it should be a good evening out?
Dr Fenech should be more positive about the building of the Opera House. Who knows, he might also be the chairman of that too. The Opera House obviously will have its positives and negatives.
What is needed is positive thinking for the good of the country. Mr Fenech may have his opinion, but he is wrong in throwing insults with his opinionated approach towards what the general public wish; that is to re-build the Opera House.
It should not be decided by the few. This is a decision that the Maltese should make and not the government and its plebs. Let the people decide.