Following the destruction of the Royal Opera House by Axis bombardment on 7 April 1942, the Manoel Theatre was expropriated by the Government of Malta in 1956, and was quickly restored to its former glory. It reopened in December 1960 with a performance of Coppélia by Ballet Rambert. In subsequent years the theatre foyer was enlarged by means of the annexation of the adjacent Palazzo Bonici, a grand 18th century palace that was the former home of the Testaferrata Bonnici family; however on 9 January 2007, the Constitutional Court of Malta revoked the 1958 order of possession and use in respect of this property and ordered that the property be returned to its original owner. This annex currently houses the theatre's bar and restaurant.