Liefhebbery Toneel is an early Cape-Dutch and later Afrikaans term for non-professional theatre, equivalent to Amateur Theatre. Used as a generic term, but also as the name for a specific venue.

As general term

Like the English term Amateur Theatre, the original Dutch term Liefhebbery Tooneel can refer to someone who undertakes something (or to something undertaken) for the love of it, not for financial gain, or simply mean theatre made by people who are not professionals, but merely doing so for the love of it. In adapted form, i.e. as Liefhebbery Toneel, this was adopted by Cape-Dutch and early Afrikaans. Later Afrikaans also began to use the terms Liefhebbery Teater, Amateur Toneel or Amateur Teater as terms in general use.

See more under Amateur

De Liefhebbery Tooneel: A Cape Town theatre

The name De Liefhebbery Tooneel was given to a theatre venue which the amateur company Tot Nut en Vermaak opened in Hope Street, Cape Town in 1825, as an alternative venue to the Afrikaansche Schouwburg. Also found as De Kaapsche Liefhebbery Theater and at times referred to as the Hope Street Theatre or Hoopstraat-Skouburg.

When it was refurnbished in June 1846, the name Victoria Theatre was briefly bestowed on it.

See De Liefhebbery Tooneel