V18 artistic director Mario Philip Azzopardi. Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi

Police were forced to intervene during a foul-mouthed clash between V18 artistic director Mario Philip Azzopardi and a Valletta parish priest over noise created by a marching band outside the Manoel Theatre.

The incident occurred last Sunday during celebrations marking the feast of St Augustine. The parish band, following its usual route through the city, paused outside the theatre, where a play produced by Mr Azzopardi's company Staġun Teatru Malti was under way.

“As soon as the band started playing, Mr Azzopardi came out yelling,” parish priest Deo Debono told Times of Malta yesterday. “I told him we had all the police permits in place but he was very arrogant, yelling at me and all the band members.”

Fr Debono said several people around him also heard Mr Azzopardi, who felt the noise was disrupting the performance, use a homophobic slur in his regard, although he had not heard it himself. “He has no right to speak to me in that way,” he said. “The police asked me to make a report about [the slur], but I didn’t wish to.

He was very arrogant, yelling at me and all the band members

“We don’t want to disrupt the work of the theatre, but we also can’t tolerate that sort of yelling and insults after months of work,” Fr Debono said.

Police officers in the area were called to the scene due to fears that the situation could escalate.

It is understood that Mr Azzopardi was questioned in relation to the incident. Police, however, could not confirm whether this was the case, citing an article of law prohibiting officers from disclosing personal information about anyone who is arrested, under investigation or about to be charged with an offence.

When contacted, Mr Azzopardi played down the incident. “It’s all been settled. I just asked them not to stop and play in front of the Manoel,” he said, denying that he had used foul language or had behaved aggressively towards the band. “It’s not true,” he insisted. “As usual, words were exchanged but I just asked them to move from one corner to the other.”

Asked about the police involvement in the incident, Mr Azzopardi confirmed that police had questioned him “for about five minutes”. But when asked for further details, he refused to answer. “I do not subscribe to this sort of gutter reporting,” he said abruptly before hanging up.

The Valletta 2018 Foundation did not respond to questions about the conduct of the artistic director.

This latest incident comes after deputy V18 artistic director Sean Buhagiar resigned last February following a heated argument on the set of a play Mr Buhagiar was directing for Staġun Teatru Malti.

Veteran set designer Adrian Mamo also quit the play after Mr Azzopardi behaved aggressively and dismantled elements of the set during an earlier argument.

Former collaborators who spoke to this newspaper in the wake of the incidents claimed a consistent pattern of serious abusive behaviour by the veteran producer on several theatre and film productions he had been involved with in recent years.