African Theatres Trust
The African Theatres Trust (1913-1931) was a theatrical importing and distributing agency and management company founded by I.W. Schlesinger and A.H. Stodel (Harry Stodel).
Known colloquially as ATT, The Trust or billed as African Theatres.
For more information post-1931, see African Consolidated Theatres.
History
The African Theatres Trust was founded on 10 April 1913 by I.W. Schlesinger and A.H. Stodel (Harry Stodel) when they bought a number of companies, including Africa's Amalgamated Theatres (established by Rufe Naylor in 1911) and the Empire Theatres Company (established by Edgar Hyman in 1912).
[According to Groom (in Bosman, 1980: p. 435) the Trust first made its presence felt in the country in 1911, though Percy Tucker (1997) says it was only founded in 1913.]
Their intention was to save the ailing theatre industry by organizing it nationwide. They pooled their resources to gradually gain control of theatres and cinema halls across the country and set about bringing out dramatic, musical and pantomime companies to tour their circuit.
Schlesinger also formed a film importing and distributing agency called African Films Trust (1913) and African Film Productions Ltd (1915), a film studio in Killarney, Johannesburg, thus creating a huge and influential empire that would dominate professional theatre and film in the country for many years.
In 1931, African Theatres Trust merged with Kinemas to form African Consolidated Theatres Ltd. Productions staged by the company were produced under the banner of African Consolidated Theatres.
For more information post-1931, see African Consolidated Theatres.
Productions
Productions staged by African Theatres include:
1920: The Sleeping Beauty
1921: The Sleeping Beauty
1922: Robinson Crusoe
1923: Robinson Crusoe; Jack and the Beanstalk
1924: Jack and the Beanstalk; Cinderella
1925: Cinderella, Mother Goose
1926: Mother Goose, Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp
1927: Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp
1931: Two Hanekom-Van Zyl Geselskap ("Hanekom-Van Zyl Company") productions: Wie is wie? and Die Silwer Koning
International acts
1913/1921: Frank Benson and his company toured South Africa and Rhodesia twice under the auspices of African National Theatres (African Theatres?), once in 1913, and again in 1921, doing a series of Shakespeare plays/scenes from Shakespeare.
1920s: The Neilson-Terry Company (a British theatrical company formed by Fred Terry and his wife Julia Neilson) toured South Africa under the auspices of ACT.
Sources
D.C. Boonzaier, 1923. "My playgoing days – 30 years in the history of the Cape Town stage", in SA Review, 9 March and 24 August 1923. (Reprinted in Bosman 1980: pp. 374-439.): p. 435.
"A History of the South African Film Industry timeline" 1895-2003, South African History Online [1]
"Chapter 4 - Another Victory for Trade Unionism: The 1918 Cape Town Musicians’ Strike", South African History Online[2]
Percy Tucker. 1997. Just the Ticket. My 50 Years in Show Business. Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press.
Go to the ESAT Bibliography
Return to
Return to South African Theatre Venues, Companies, Societies, etc
Return to The ESAT Entries
Return to Main Page
