Theatre in Malta : 1977-1978

Abstract

Coming after the riches of the previous season, 1977-78 was disappointing. All the drama groups tended to play safe by performing proven box- office successes, preferably light comedy and farce, and rarely ventured on anything that lacked popular appeal, not to mention the avant-garde which did not put in one appearance throughout the season. If this trend should be prolonged into the next few seasons, theatre in Malta cannot become the healthy creature it so obviously is capable of being. Malta's problem is not unique. Most other countries have long discovered the impossibility of depending on unaided private enterprise for an art theatre to develop and flourish. In Malta, Atturi have been pioneers in seeking and obtaining some degree of financial backing from private industry and foreign embassies, but this backing has rarely been sufficient to cover losses suffered when a production has flopped heavily, as some have done. [excerpt]