Dramatic Hall

The Dramatic Hall, Pietermaritzburg was a theatre built by the local amateurs in 1865in Longmarket Street. A converted auctioneer’s sale room, seating 700 with mainly yellow-wood benches, removable rostra, “abundant lighting and good ventilation” and a portable gallery. The stagewas 30 feet x 20 feet in size and sported painted scenery and two dressing rooms. This was the first civilian theatre in Pietermaritzburg. It opened with Bombastes Furioso and Slasher and Crasher on 26 December 1865 and operated late into the century. (See Schauffer, 197*) [DS]

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