Mario Philip Azzopardi has revealed his would-be play, ‘Who Killed Daphne?’, written months before her murder, was shelved because it did not meet his lofty standards. 

Speaking in an interview on Xarabank aired on Lovin Malta, Azzopardi made little reference to the appropriateness around the play, telling host Peppi Azzopardi that a draft first ten pages was simply not up to scratch.

“It stopped there – but I was still called up to the courts to testify on the matter,” he said. 

The production was shot down by the Manoel Theatre board after being deemed inappropriate. It was produced by a local company run by Azzopardi, as part of a €20,000 deal funded by the Finance Ministry, to encourage Maltese-language plays.

Min qatel lil Daphne? was produced but not written by Azzopardi.

However, Azzopardi had previously told the public inquiry that “the mistake was to reject the play without reading it.”

Azzopardi was also planning to reference Caruana Galizia in another play, Ix-Xiħa – with one character – a wealthy blogger and mother of four was clearly based on the journalist. 

During his appearance in court, Azzopardi said that the plays were satirical and he wanted to show how ordinary discussion had been taken over by politics. 

Azzopardi himself had a contentious relationship with Caruana Galizia, which continued after her murder, with the director often trading jabs with activists pursuing the call for justice.