James Debono Surveys show that people attending theatre performances are still a minority even if their numbers have grown by 20% in the past decade. And most theater goers prefer concerts, musicals and comedies to drama and opera. Still, the majority would like to see the opera house restored to its former glory. Do the Maltese want a new theatre or the resurrection of a lost landmark?
Nine years ago, the Kultura 2000 survey showed that 251,363 persons – or 81.5 % of the total population – did not go to a theatre performance in the previous year, while 2.0 % went to the theatre at least five times. 3.6 % went twice, 2.4 went three times while 1.7% went four times.
A sizeable fraction, 80.8 % did not go to concerts. 59,111 persons went to at least one. Most (23,848) were present at concerts of the classical, lyrical or operetta type. 18,339 persons attended foreign music concerts.
Nine years later, a MaltaToday survey showed that despite a notable increase in attendances, the majority still shunned theatre performances.
A survey published last March showed that 60.3% had not been to a theatre in the past year and 18% have only attended a theatre production once. Only 8% had attended a performance in a theatre more than three times in the previous year.
Even among respondents with a tertiary education, 50% did not attend any theatre production in the past year. Among people with a secondary level of education only 37.3% have been to a theatre in the previous year.
The survey showed that the most popular theatre in Malta is the Catholic Institute with 31.7% claiming to have attended a play there.
But this is not the case with people with a tertiary or post-secondary education, who mostly attend the Manoel Theatre. St James Cavalier emerges as the third most popular theatre but its audience is mostly restricted to people with a tertiary education. While 16% of university-educated people have watched a play at St James, only 8% of those with a secondary education have done likewise.
The state of Maltese theatre According figures released by the National Office of Statistics, theatres staged a total of 314 productions and 579 performances in 2008, attracting a total audience of 209,000.
This represented an increase of 22% in the number of people who attended theater productions in 2007. The biggest audiences were those attending concerts (24%), followed by musicals (17%) and comedy (13%).
The 11 theatres surveyed staged 314 productions in 2008, an increase of more than 70 productions over 2007.
Concerts comprised 58% of all productions held in Maltese theaters while operas comprised only 1.3% of all productions down from 3.2% in 2006.
The four operas held in 2008 attracted an audience of 4800-an average of 600 persons per performance.
Musicals have the largest audience size per performance with an average of 822 persons per performance. Dance and opera followed, with average audiences of 645 and 600 per performance respectively.
Comedies saw the sharpest drop in audiences between 2007 and 2008, falling from 21% to just 13% of the theater going population.
Theatre-seat utilization stood at 59%, an increase of 8% over the preceding year.
Average theatre-seat utilisation was highest for musicals (78%) opera (76%) and comedy (64%) as was the case during the previous two years.
In 2008, theatres earned a total of €1.4 million and spent €1.2 million. Just over 45% of the total income was derived from the leasing of halls, while another 24% was derived from theatrical activities organised by the theatres themselves. 72 % of the total expenditure was attributed to sub contracting and staff costs.
Majority want opera house back
Although most Maltese shun opera and theatre performances in general, 67% want the Opera House to be rebuilt exactly as it was before WWII, and 49% want it to be used exclusively as an opera house, a MaltaToday survey published last November found.
Just over half of respondents disagreed with the idea of building a new parliament on the site of the ruins of the Opera House. Subsequently were changed to accommodate an open air theater on the present ruins while parliament is set to be build in Freedom square.
Only 18.3% agree that the opera house ruins should be replaced by a modern structure. An overwhelming 67% want the Opera House to be rebuilt exactly the way it was before it was razed to the ground by the German Luftwaffe.
Younger respondents are only a bit less conservative, with just 22% expressing a preference for a modern structure.
Moreover, when asked to state what kind of building they would like to replace the opera house ruins with, 49% opted for rebuilding the Opera House – an opinion expressed by the tenor Joseph Calleja.
12.7% opted for a cultural centre, 5.7% want a public library and 5.6% want a museum. 17% wanted a parliament.
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