Thomas Walsh
Journal of the Late Campaign - Egypt 1803
" La Valette possesses an opera, small indeed, but neat, though much out of repair. Italy and Sicily supply it with very tolerable vocal performers, and it is a very agreeable entertainment for the garrison. It was excessively crowded every night by the officers of the expedition, to whom it was a great source of amusement. The price of admission is one shilling. "

About Us
“The Manoel”
as it is affectionately referred to by the locals, is Malta’s National Theatre, the best equipped performing arts venue on the Island and a major contributor to the local performing arts scene. It is one of the finest examples of Baroque architecture and one of the oldest working theatres in Europe.
The Theatre's two performance areas:
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Teatru Manoel’s Mission
The Theatre is a Public Cultural Organisation funded predominantly by the Government. As Malta’s national theatre, Teatru Manoel believes that everyone should have access to the arts, and therefore seeks to present as eclectic an annual programme of high-quality productions and events as possible covering the performing genres of music, drama and dance. The Theatre also aims to be the major local platform for a wide pool of artists, both local and foreign to develop and freely express their creativity through dialogue with a diverse audience that enables mutual cultural enrichment. The Theatre produces its own productions, collaborates with other Public Cultural Organisations and third-party producers and is a receiving house for independent productions. |

Fun Facts
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Restoration and Refurbishment
2017 – 2018 | An acclimatization system is installed in the auditorium which is now warm in Winter and cool in Summer. The parterre boxes at the stalls level are restored, new seating is installed, and the seating layout is changed to that of the original building. |
2019 |
Restoration works continue to return the façade to the original 1731 design |
2020 | The Theatre closes in March 2020 due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. It opens briefly for weekly one-hour productions to socially distanced audiences between October 2020 and March 2021 when it had to close again. |
2021 |
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The Theatre’s Legacy
In its (almost) three centuries of existence Teatru Manoel has hosted thousands of plays, operas, musicals, concerts, recitals and dance productions. Even more artists have come through its stage door and treaded its boards, some of whom went on to achieve great success locally and internationally and others who came here already famous.
