The Manoel Theatre has said that cancelling a production of ‘Ix-Xiħa’ it approved was “the right thing to do”.

“Cancelling this production is the right thing to do. We are Malta’s National Theatre and we have a responsibility to the artistic community, our performers, and our audiences,” a spokesperson for the Manoel Theatre Management Board said. 

The satirical play was cancelled following intense criticism over its content and the inclusion of a character based on assassinated journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. 

The political satire sees the matriarch of a family disinherit her four children in favour of the family’s maid. One of its characters, Jenny, is based on Caruana Galizia and in the climax of the play, she dies following an explosion.

Jenny’s final words before her death directly quote a blogpost of the assassinated journalist following the death of Dom Mintoff and her infamous last words “the situation is desperate”.

Jenny winds up somewhere “worse than hell”, according to Azzopardi, with her family dealing with the aftermath of her murder. “Blog, blog, blog” are the last words of the leaked play.

Azzopardi has defended the work, insisting that his “artistic freedom” was paramount.

Journalist Manuel Delia leaked the play on 31st March and Azzopardi has said that he plans to sue over what he describes as a flagrant breach of copyright and a criminal offence.

The Ix-Xiħa script was referenced in the public inquiry linked to the assassination with Azzopardi launching a defence of satire when appearing before the board. And Azzopardi revealed that he demanded it to be performed at the Manoel Theatre, 30 minutes after the sitting ended.

What do you think of the Manoel Theatre’s response?