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Ix-Xiħa, Which References Daphne Caruana Galizia, Cancelled After Actors Threatened With Violence

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Mario Philip Azzopardi’s ‘Ix-Xiħa’, a satire that uses assassinated journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia as the basis of ones it characters, has been cancelled.

Azzopardi made the announcement on social media. 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 quotes 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.

The play generated significant controversy with people calling for a boycott of the Manoel Theatre.

“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,” the Manoel Theatre said.

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 decision to cancel the play?

READ NEXT: Watch: Joseph Muscat Highlights Three Negatives From Election And Says Gender Quotas ‘Badly Needed’

Julian is the former editor of Lovin Malta and has a particular interest in politics, the environment, social issues, and human interest stories.

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