Breasts, buttocks and a dose of swearing thrown in for good measure.

None of it is unusual in scenes acted out at the West End in London, but here in Malta they still create ripples.

No one will forget the furore created when a decision was made to ban the scene in ‘The Duchess of Malfi’ where the crucifix was kicked. And although producers feel that more leeway is being given by the censors, most would still prefer to see Malta come in line with the rest of Europe, with the introduction of self-censorship.

The relatively new theatre at St James Cavalier is sticking its neck out in such matters, having taken the first steps towards introducing more controversial drama to Maltese audiences.

The recently staged play by Polly March entitled. “Beauty and the Bounders” was given the full go-ahead, even though some scenes raised quite a few eyebrows. They included a nude male actor, and a hilarious jucy sex act.

The move was seen as good news to many local producers and directors who all confirmed that censors have improved their way of working and that things have taken a turn for the better during the last few years. The general feeling among the theatre crowd is that the system of censorship is definitely improving, leaving substantial breathing space for all those involved.

"I think I only had one experience of censorship in one of my plays where a word, which could have been regarded as blatant blasphemy, was eliminated from the script," said director Herman Grech. "But I did not object as it was not something which in any way affected the meaning of what was happening on stage."

Directors and producers are obliged to present their scripts to the Board of Censorship for ratings. These would act as guidelines for the general public. In fact theatre companies are obliged to warn the public clearly about the age group for which the play is intended.

There are many though, who still feel that censorship is limiting the world of the theatre.

"In the long run, I feel that we should be able to remove the concept of censorship, as happens in the rest of Europe," said Chris Gatt, director of St James Cavalier. "I would suggest self-certification from the part of producers themselves, which would make both the producers and actors responsible for what they show. In ‘Breaking Straines’ we unanimously decided that although the play had been given a 16 rating, we would put this up to an 18 rating. We felt that this was better suited for the nature of the topic involved."

He also pointed out that although censorship exists on the written script, no censorship exists on improvised plays.

On the side of the local theatre companies, difficulties in putting up a show make for simplification of the situation and not for increasing complications.

Tony Bezzina, who runs the Masquerade Theatre Co. said, "I feel that producers should be responsible enough to rate shows themselves and have responsibility for a show’s certification. This would save also a lot of annoying details, like having to submit scripts which are sometimes original copies and having to go to extra expense each and every time."

In fact, companies are obliged to pay a fee when submitting the script, which script is withheld by the Board.

All said and done, it is still fairly obvious that theatres may be biased In the types of works which they think their audience would like to see. And actors are aware of this in that they know that one show might be staged in one theatre, whilst not in another.