The Manoel Theatre has cancelled an upcoming production which drew heavy criticism for how it portrayed a character based heavily on assassinated journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

‘Ix-Xiha’, penned and directed by Mario Philip Azzopardi, drew heavy criticism for how it included a character heavily based on the journalist, and ended with this character dying in a bomb, having shouted Daphne’s last words from her blog, and winding up somewhere “worse than hell.”

The play, which was produced as part of state entity Teatru Malta’s Maltese-language theatre season Stagun Teatru Malta, drew adverse reactions and prompted calls for boycotts of the national theatre.

However, on Friday the Manoel Theatre Management Board announced that the play, which was due to be staged from 29 April to 8 May, had been axed.

“Following public outcry and because the Teatru Manoel Management Board is receptive to sentiments among its audiences and within the artistic community, it was deemed appropriate to cancel the production with immediate effect,” a statement read.

The decision came after an extraordinary meeting on Friday following developments on social and public media.

A spokesperson for the Board said: “Cancelling this production is the right thing to do. We are Malta’s National Theatre and we have a responsibility to the artistic community, our performers, and our audiences.”

“Literally unbelievably, this is how Teatru Manoel has decided Daphne Caruana Galizia, a woman demonized for years as is-Saħħara tal-Bidnija before her brutal murder, should be portrayed four years after her death. It’s from the same writer who, even before her murder, pitched a different script called ‘Min Qatel lil Daphne Caruana Galizia’ that was to end with her “choking on her own bile”. There are no words,” actor Philip Leone Ganado wrote on social media on Thursday when details of the production first started to emerge.

Blogger Manuel Delia meanwhile published the full script of the production, which promoted its writer and director Mario Philip Azzopardi to say that he would be taking Delia to court for copyright infringements.

Azzopardi earlier on Friday claimed that the production had been cancelled after threats led to half of the cast dropping out of the production, but no mention of such claims was made by the Manoel Theatre in the announcement of its decision.