An unprecedented weekend of over 20 theatre performances across eight different productions has left theatregoers spoilt for choice, but industry experts are concerned that supply is outstripping demand.  

From Thursday to Sunday, Malta will see a staggering 21 theatre performances take place at seven theatres across the country, from Spazju Kreattiv to Sala San Duminku to the Manoel Theatre. 

And while the number of performances has been greeted positively and lauded as an example of the thriving theatrical scene, some have questioned the sustainability of having so many shows on at the same time.  

By comparison, over the same week last year, just four theatre productions were running, according to the Times of Malta What's On guide. In 2019, the same week had just two productions running, while the year before that, there was only one production onstage.

From the critically acclaimed Daqsxejn ta' Requiem Għal Leli to Lovesong (L-Għanja tan-Namra), via other reputable productions, theatre organisations will be lobbying to put as many bums on seats as possible. And with a limited number of theatregoers, practitioners fear they could end up out of pocket. 

Theatre director and artistic director of independent collective WhatsTheirNames Philip Leone-Ganado said it was an "issue independent producers have been whispering about in increasingly worried tones for a while".

Leone-Ganado said that while it was tempting to view the number of performances as positive, he views it differently, citing the growing number of companies and artists that require being sustained.

"The current theatre audience in Malta remains small and splitting it so many different ways only makes it harder and harder for any single production to be sustainable. 

"On top of that, producers are already competing for actors and venues. And nobody is winning here; creatives are in high demand but still aren't being paid a living wage by any local producer, because the funds simply aren't there."

Leone-Ganado said that while this wasn't a new issue facing the theatre world, it was fast approaching "a tipping point".

"If we want our fledgling industry to survive and thrive, the only solution is to make less theatre, make it better, make it for longer and make it together," he said. 

Theatre director and Culture Venture founder Toni Attard agreed that the industry could suffer should so many concurrent performances become a trend. 

“Imagine if we had a whole year of eight to 10 productions a week; there isn’t the financial capacity to do so, and the audiences are not there – that would be a huge oversupply and there isn’t enough demand right now.” 

Addressing the issue of cost, Attard also stressed that there was a limit to how much people were able to fork out for tickets.  

“There’s an economic model there which simply doesn’t work in terms of producing work – and from the audience’s point of view,” said Attard, who is directing the play Is-Snin li Tħoss for two weekends.

“We also need to keep in mind that if we really want to diversify the theatre sector... we can’t end up in a situation where it’s only public institutions that can afford to create work,” Attard warned.  

He highlighted that with directors having to book venues months in advance, it was difficult to know how productions might clash with others, but added the upcoming weekend was “probably a bit of a one-off situation”.  

However, he emphasised that more cooperation within the industry was needed: “We need more communication and sharing of knowledge, but also new repertoire with increased repeatability”.

Stressing that having longer-running shows would provide more opportunities for audiences to watch different productions – which could, in turn, mean fewer clashes – he noted, however, that more infrastructure such as storage facilities for costumes and large sets was needed to support this.  

Attard, a former strategy director at Arts Council Malta, also called for country-wide audience data such as ticket sales and trends to be available to the sector regularly rather than every few years.  

The last time national statistics on theatre attendance were released was in 2021. That year, Arts Council Malta said three-quarters of women and two-thirds of men had reported never going to the theatre.  

When contacted, Arts Council Malta said it was aiming to conduct further research into cultural participation this year and next year. 

New theatre space?  

Echoing Attard’s words, Paul Portelli, actor, theatre director and founding member of Theatre Anon, agreed the sector would benefit from companies working together more.  

“There definitely needs to be more synergy between industry stakeholders – we don’t speak enough,” he said.  

Agreeing that longer theatre runs would benefit the theatre world, Portelli argued for companies to pool their resources to provide a dedicated theatre space.  

“If a group of companies got together, they could share a space that could have productions and workshops running regularly,” he said. 

However, Portelli was keen to recognise the positive side to the weekend’s jam-packed theatre schedule, stressing the higher number of productions “shows the scene is healthy”.

Number of shows ‘100 per cent positive’ 

Meanwhile, playwright and theatre director Malcolm Galea said the number of performances this weekend was “100 per cent positive,” stressing they gave audiences more choice while forcing producers to be “more competitive and less self-indulgent”.

He noted that while the higher number of offerings could lead to some companies not making any profit, this could encourage them to be more cost-effective, which in the long run could make productions easier to stage. 

And with theatre tickets this weekend costing on average around €15 to €20, does Galea think this could prove an issue for theatregoers wanting to attend more than one performance? 

“Theatre tickets are more expensive in Malta than abroad,” he conceded, but noted that venue costs were also much higher. 

“Public venues are very expensive to rent. Hopefully, with more productions and more independent theatres, this will force the public venues to lower their prices,” he said, adding that as much as a third of a production’s costs could go towards renting a venue. 

Stressing the importance of remaining competitive, Galea, who is performing his award-winning show Plastic and Chicken Bones, said local productions should not rely on being “spoon-fed” by public funding, arguing it led to complacency. 

“I would like to see more independent venues and productions flourishing – what interests me is creating an independent Maltese theatre scene,” he said.  

Most packed 'What's On' guide yet

Commenting on the number of theatrical shows this weekend, Stephanie Fsadni, who compiles the Times of Malta What’s On guide, said the sheer number of shows was a first for her.   

“Since we've been compiling the What's On guide, I've never seen so many theatre productions happening at the same time. There are eight and a lot is going on in Valletta alone,” she said.