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Performing Arts Institutions (Playhouses) |
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The following arts institutions are declared Cultural Institutions in terms of the Cultural Institutions Act 119 of 1998. This means that these institutions receive annual grant from the Department and are controlled by the councils.
The Playhouses assist to create a sustainable performing arts industry based on access, excellence, diversity and redress.
The institutions receive annual transfers from the Department, but also generate their own revenue through ticket sales, donor assistance, sponsorships and rental income.
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Artscape, Cape Town
The Artscape Theatre Centre, which belongs to the provincial administration, was opened on 19 May 1971 as the Nico Malan Theatre Centre. In line with the new South African political dispensation and the concurrent changes the complex was renamed to Artscape in March 2001.
Historically the Cape Performing Arts Board (CAPAB) was instituted in the early sixties of the twentieth century. The aim was to promote the performing arts. The arts councils received sufficient government subsidies to fund various art forms as well as the operational requirements of the theatre facilities.
Artscape was launched on 27 March 1999 to replace CAPAB. Today it manages the theatre venues and provides essential technical and specialised services on a semi-commercial basis. The emphasis is on sustainable theatre practice, education and development.
Originally established 40 years ago as the official performing arts council for the Western Cape, Artscape has today developed into a vibrant, multi-functional creative arts centre, offering exceptional venue facilities and specialist theatrical services.
With its close proximity to Cape Town's central business district, the new International Convention Centre and the V & A Waterfront, Artscape is ideally situated to serve the Cape's performing arts, film, tourism, entertainment, conference and exhibition industries.
Contact details
DF Malan Street
Foreshore
Cape Town
8001
Tel: +27 (0)21 410 9800
www.artscape.co.za
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Market Theatre Foundation, Johannesburg
The Market Theatre Foundation, founded in Johannesburg in 1976 by Mannie Manim and the late Barney Simon, was constructed out of Johannesburg’s Indian Fruit Market - built in 1913. The theatre went on to become internationally renowned as South Africa’s “Theatre of the Struggle”.
The Market Theatre challenged the apartheid regime, armed with little more than the conviction that culture can change society. The strength and truth of that conviction was acknowledged in 1995 when the theatre received the American Jujamcyn Award. In providing a voice to the voiceless, the Market Theatre did not forego artistic excellence, but, rather, made a point of it. Its 21 international and 300 South African theatre awards bears eloquent testimony to the courage and artistic quality of its work.
During the past three decades, The Market Theatre Foundation has evolved into a cultural complex for theatre, music, dance and the allied arts. Today, The Market Theatre Foundation remains at the forefront of South African theatre, actively encouraging new works that continue to reach international stages.
The Institution consists of the Market Theatre, Market theatre Labolatory and the Market Theatre Photography workshop. The three are responsible for staging of productions, theatre training and Photography training respectively.
Contact details
56 Margaret Mcingana St
Newtown
Johannesburg
2113
Tel: +27 (0)11 832 1641
www.markettheatre.co.za
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Performing Arts Centre of the Free State, Bloemfontein
PACOFS is the flag ship of theatre activities in the Free State Province, the central region of South Africa. It is a Playhouse where an environment is provided for artists to practice and perform their different art forms. An annual season of classic and contemporary South African, African and international theatre productions are performed inside its theatres.
PACOFS is a major community and cultural resource for people of the central parts of South Africa and Lesotho. It is committed to the development of both new works and Free State artists through its arts development program.
Contact details
12 First Avenue
Bloemfontein
9300
Tel: +27 ( 0)51 447 7771
www.pacofs.co.za |
Playhouse Company, Durban
The Playhouse Company is Ethekwini’s premier theatre organization, based at the Playhouse theatre complex in Anton Lembende Street (formerly Smith Street) in the heart of the coastal city of Durban, KwaZulu-Natal on the Eastern Seaboard of South Africa.
As a Cultural Institution The Playhouse Company receives public funding from the South African National Government and the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government.
The Playhouse Company is mandated to produce an equitable programme of live theatre productions in the fields of music, drama and dance, representative of the diverse cultural groups that comprise the population of KwaZulu-Natal, both in terms of audiences and artists based in the Province.
In addition, the company holds the responsibility of devising and managing a dynamic education and development programme in the performing arts with respect to growing youth audiences as well as nurturing community based artists, groups and organizations that are in need of back-up from the company’s marketing expertise and technical resources.
The Playhouse Company also has the responsibility of managing the Playhouse complex’s various performance and public venues that are for hire when not in use for the Company’s own productions, or those presented in association with The Playhouse Company. The Playhouse Company aims to produce live theatre in all its forms of an international standard commensurate with its stature as one of South Africa’s leading performing arts bodies.
Contact details
Administration building
29 Acutt Street
Durban
Tel: +27 (0)31 369
9596/9540
www.playhousecompany.com |
Windybrow Theatre, Johannesburg
The Windybrow Theatre was built by one of the early South African mining engineers, Theodore Reunert in 1896 as a family home. It has since served many purposes including being a nurses’ home.
The Windybrow was declared a national monument in 1996. Its history as an arts centre spans almost 20 years, at first as a traditional theatre complex, reflective of the programming policies and cultural aesthetics of the period. In 1993 the Windybrow took bold steps to transform itself into a cultural centre consistent with the ethos of the new democratic order.
On 1 April 2005 the Windybrow was declared a ‘Cultural Institution’ by the Department of Arts and Culture. It was re-launched on 4 May 2006. The Windybrow Theatre is a well governed, innovative and respected cultural institution that is an incubator for the development of high quality performance artists and productions that are inspired by Africa, its diversity and its rich store of cultural forms.
A key feature of the strategy and brand is recognizing the huge artistic value of exchange between ‘African’ performing artists and institutions. We believe that the Windybrow is ideally located physically and historically to facilitate such a process on a sustainable basis.
Contact details
Cnr Nugget and
Pietersen Streets
161 Joubert Park
Johannesburg
Tel: +27 (0)11 720 0003/ 4
www.windybrowarts.co.za
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the State Theatre, Pretoria
The South African State Theatre saw the birth of, and was the driving force behind, the establishment of the performing arts in all spheres in South Africa. The Theatre today plays a leading role in the development of the performing arts, and is host to the colourful variety of entertainment found in the diverse cultures of our wonderful country.
The opening of the theatre complex in May 1981 was a milestone in South African theatre and marked the beginning of great things to come. In 2000 The Theatre re-opened as a receiving house a few years later, and has been host to blockbuster shows like Cats, Sarafina!, The Phantom of the Opera, The Sound of Music to name but a few. The centrally situated State Theatre has been a driving force in the cultural life of the capital and the country.
Contact details
320 Pretorius Street
Pretoria
Tel: +27 (0)12 392 4000
www.statetheatre.co.za
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For more information about performing arts institutions, contact the Sub-Directorate:
Playhouses
at +27 (0)12 441 3627 |
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