Censorship

I have received a few emails and phone calls asking what I think of the recent decision to ban the play "Stitching" which was due to be put on recently. Now, without getting into the details of the script or the play – I haven't read or seen it – it is incredulous that in this day and age we are still concerned with banning plays – however avant garde or distasteful they may be. I sometimes wonder if we are really in 2009.

From the media reports I've read about this whole sorry saga it seems the play is shocking, provocative, and doesn't really sound like something I would be particularly interested in seeing. But the fact remains that we cannot ban the play because we may not agree with it, not like the underlying themes or think that it's too much for Maltese to handle. It's simply not on.

The answer would have been to ensure that it is open only to adults – raise the viewership age if really needs be - and that every person is warned in advance that the play is provocative and that some scenes may shock. Then everyone would be free to decide whether that was something they were interesting in watching – by themselves and not by some higher authority.

Of course if the Government doesn't want it put on on their property then they also have a right not to allow it – but who is anyone to say what can and can not be shown to informed adults on private property?

I hear the latest news is that the play will be shown in defiance of the ban – I hope the authorities don't make a mountain out of a mole hill and attempt to shut it down - the irony of such a move is that it will only increase the interest in the show meaning more people will want to watch it...