With the Malta Arts Festival taking over Valletta for the month, the MITP theatre has been put under a spotlight as a swathe of performances – some of which include international participants – takes over one of the oldest theatres on the island.
The theatre has proved to be desirable due to its flexible nature and its accessibility to performers. However, there has been a curious absence of any aesthetic improvements and the space itself seems to have been left to its own devices.
“MITP is a beautiful space and has given a chance to young companies to start up and do experimental theatre,” Anthony Bezzina, artistic director of Masquerade, said. “It is a rough and ready sort of theatre, where artistes and directors are free to use as they see fit. I am in favour of some essential refurbishments but hope it will keep its character and flexibility.”
Frank Camilleri, Theatre Studies coordinator at the University, claimed that the MITP is “the perfect place for contemporary and research theatre to be held. This is the specificity of the MITP theatre: the parquet flooring and the black-box architecture make it perfect for laboratory theatre research and performances.”
He also said that Odin Teatret, a visiting theatre group from Denmark, as well as Working Party, which boasts Scottish and German members, were very pleased with the theatre.
Irene Christ, actress, co-founder and producer of Actinghouse productions, was far more vitriolic in her assessment. “The MITP could be a wonderful theatrical space in the wonderful capital city of Malta – a beautiful, flexible, black-box theatre with a lot of atmosphere... theoretically. In practice it’s a disaster for the audiences and for producers. It feels a bit like a forgotten cellar where the dirty kids play… people can't sit properly, there is no air conditioning and the toilets are simply embarrassing.”
Speaking on behalf of the Koperattiva Kulturali Universitarja, the University’s communications co-ordinator Patricia Camilleri said that there are “concrete refurbishment and improvement plans at hand. These will come into effect in phases as resources permit and as and when the MITP returns to its original use as a theatrical space.”