On Monday, Teatru Manoel announced the passing Marco Bartolo, a professional who for many years served as the theatre’s scenographer.

“Marco was a professional scenographer and his contribution towards the theatre over so many years was invaluable,” the team at the theatre wrote.

Mr Bartolo had been working at Teatru Manoel for more than 30 years and was the man behind many sets and scenery for the various stage productions produced at the theatre.

In an interview, Mr Bartolo had shared that he was always a stage enthusiast and used to work on different plays to take care of their scenery.

30 years ago, he found his passion in continuing this line of work and he never looked back since.

Looking back at his time at the theatre, Mr Bartolo had said in an interview from 2023 that a memorable opera for him was 'Lucia di Lammermoor.'

“Back then there weren’t many of us [at the theatre]. We had two carpenters, myself and I had somebody with me who was still very young. One could say we put up a great opera between us. That was a very big thing at the time, and I am still impressed at how we managed to do it,” he said during the interview.

In the comments section under the post, many recollected working alongside him.

“His energy, kindness and amazing artistry and passion towards theatre and his work were always at the forefront,” one commenter said.

Others cheekily commented that they made him lose his patience a couple of times, “but at the end, he always delivered what [they] wished for, and more. Always joking yet always very professional.”