Majority of theatregoers prefer plays in Maltese

Nearly three-quarters of the Maltese people did not attend a single theatre performance in the year before a survey was carried out by the National Statistics Office.

The most popular theatre venue among respondents was the Catholic Institute, it was revealed as the NSO yesterday presented its first-ever national survey of local theatre.

Carried out between last December and May this year, the survey attempted to chart the tastes, habits, and views of the public. It was led by Nicola Camilleri from the NSO's Education and Culture Unit.

Of the respondents, only 26.4 per cent replied that they had gone to the theatre, a figure well below the EU 15 average of 35 per cent. However, the local audience figures are roughly in line with those of the new EU acceding states.

Of those who did attend the theatre, half said they had watched between one and three performances, and 26 per cent had watched between four and six.

Asked why they did not frequent the theatre, a quarter said they had no time, and 18 per cent said they found the theatre boring. Seven per cent did not mince their words - they considered the theatre to be a waste of time.

A total of 48 per cent said they attended the Manoel Theatre, 55 per cent the Catholic Institute, and 20 per cent St James Cavalier.

The statistics reflected the language preferences of theatre-goers, with 56 per cent saying they preferred to watch plays in Maltese, and just 12 per cent preferring English. Nineteen per cent said language made no difference to them.

The findings prompted a lively debate among the theatre representatives present at the survey results launch, some claiming that the popularity of plays in Maltese expressed in the survey results did not reflect the popularity of such plays staged at their own venues.

But NSO director-general Alfred Camilleri defended the survey findings, saying the results should be seen in a macro context, and were not specific to any theatre in particular.

The highest level of attendance was by persons who rated their standard of living as "good". Persons who attended least have no formal education.

The theatre genre staged did not unleash any particular surprises. Thirty-one per cent prefer comedy, 30 per cent musicals, 24 per cent drama, and less than one per cent dance. Opera is preferred only by those aged 65 and over.

A total of 56 per cent said they would prefer a local production to a foreign one.

Asked about ticket prices, the majority of persons interviewed do not believe that their preferred type of play is expensive. In fact, almost 55 per cent said they would not go to the theatre more often if tickets were cheaper.

Fifteen per cent of respondents said they considered a price ranging from Lm2 to Lm3.99 to be reasonable. Money seems to be no problem for three per cent of respondents, who expressed the belief that a ticket price of Lm10 and over was reasonable.