Diana Ayliff

Diana Ayliff (now Diana McDermott), is an amateur producer who resides in Port Elizabeth.

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Biography

Diana Ayliff was born in Port Elizabeth on 17th August, 1950, but until the age of six was brought up on a farm called Glen Rosa in the Sandflats/Paterson area on the Port Elizabeth-Grahamstown Road. Her father, a man of Irish decent, was Charles Ayliff but was known as Pat because he was born on St Patrick's Day, March 17. Her mother was Helen. The family moved to Port Elizabeth when they decided their farm was economically unviable. Her father worked for Dunell, Ebden & Co, General Merchants who sold hardware, farm equipment, soft goods and wool. It was a small firm which was eventually taken over by BKB.

Di first became interested in theatre when at the Junior Collegiate School for Girls where she took speech lessons with Marjorie Gilby for a few years but it was mainly through her ballet classes with Dinky Goldberg (which she started when she was eight-years-old) that she had her first taste of theatre.

After school Diana Ayliff enrolled at Rhodes University where she obtained her BA degree in in English and sociology. Drama 1 was a optional extra for her degree. Although 10 credits were required for a BA degree at Rhodes, she did 11 subjects.

While at Rhodes she acted in a play about the 1820 Settlers written by Guy Butler titled Take Root or Die. The name of the play is based on the quote "There we were in the wilderness; and when they were gone we had no means of following, had we wished to do so. We must take root and grow, or die where we stood" which comes from The Reminiscences of an Albany Settler by Henry Dugmore.

In the play Diana Ayliff played the role of Jane Dold who just happened to be one of her ancestors and who married John Ayliff. Both of them were 1820 Settlers who met on the ship, Belle Alliance, when the ship was ice-bound in the River Thames. They decided to get married so Captain Moresby of the Menai, who was only allowed to marry them in international waters, took them beyond the three mile limit where he conducted the marriage ceremony.

Upon returning to Port Elizabeth Diana took up at teaching post at Alexander Road High School. She then became involved with both PEMADS and Helen "Mo" Mann in the Port Elizabeth Shakespeare Festival which later amalgamated along with the Gilbert and Sullivan Society. Diana Ayliff chose to work mainly backstage and was often assistant to the director with Helen Mann. She "kept the book", which meant writing down all the moves and directors comments. At the following rehearsal, she would sit next to the director and remind her what had been sent at previous rehearsals. Often she was prompt, a task which she found hugely exciting and where she met her future husband.

Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance

As Director

August 8-11, 1984: Diana Ayliff directed Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat with music by Tim Rice. The musical was presented by Alexander Road High School, Port Elizabeth at the Savoy Club Theatre with musical directors Priscilla Jordan and Johan van den Berg and conductor Brendon Le Page. Starring Natalie Jones and Hilton Edwards as Narrators, Stephen Haswell (Joseph), Stephen Clark (Reuben), Bruce Ferguson (Simeon), Jacques Smith (Levi), Andrew Roberts (Napthali), Greg Cross (Issachar), John Oliver (Asher), Steven Jeffery (Dan), Wayne Pole (Zebulum), Christopher Vervliet (Gad and the Butler), Dennis Stead (Judah), Gerrie Durheim (Benjamin and the Baker), Mark Louw (Jacob), Linzi Petrie (Jacob's wife and Potiphar's wife), Wayne Pole (Poitphar), Wayne Leedo (Pharaoh), David Shaw (Israelite), Gavin Dyer (Israelite), Edward Mitchley (Lively Lad), Heidi Sudding (The Goat), Antoinette Bisschoff (Slave Girl), Heidi Sudding, Lucia Tonin, Rene Coetzer, Dane de Bruyn, and Xenia Ioannides (Adoring Girls).

As Performer

April 26 - May 1, 1976: Diana Ayliff played the role of Rosanna Aurelia in the production of Phyllis H. Carter's one-act play, Venetian Intermezzo. It was performed during the Salters Cup One-Act Play Festival at the PEMADS Little Theatre, Port Elizabeth.

Backstage

19??: Diana Ayliff was responsible for the lighting in Alexander Road High School's production of Naughty Marietta. Directed by Alexandra Emslie.

6 - 20 November, 1976: Diana Ayliff was responsible for the set decor in John Hussey's production of Oh What a Lovely War for PEMADS at their Little Theatre in Port Elizabeth.

Sources

Thus Came The English in 1820 by Dorothy E Rivett-Carnac, Published by Howard Timmins, Cape Town, 1963.

Original programme from Alexander Road High School's production of Naughty Marietta, Undated.

Original programme from Salters Cup One-Act Play Festival, April 26 - May 1, 1976.

Programme from Alexander Road High School's production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, 8-11 August, 1984.

Ivor Markman: Personal interview with Diana Ayliff for ESAT, February, 2026.

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