history

The three-storey building of the Oratory of St John Bosco, in Victoria, as it stood in the 1960s. Photo: John Cremona
The present oval-shaped auditorium of the Manoel Theatre. Originally, it was shaped like a horseshow (U-shaped) but was reshaped by Sir George Whitmore (1775-1862) in the first decades of the 19th century. The topmost tier, the gallery, was also added by the British. Photo: Timesofmalta.com

The inauguration of the Manoel Theatre in 1732

Malta’s first public theatre built by Grand Master António Manoel de Vilhena

January 16, 2022| Joseph F. Grima, Retired casual history lecturer and assistant director of Education