Durban Theatre Foundation

Durban Theatre Foundation was an arts organisation based in Durban.

Durban Theatre Foundation Academy

The organisation also facilitated arts education, through the Durban Theatre Foundation Academy.

Durban Theatre Foundation Academy was run by Sandra Herrington, under the auspices of the Little Abbey Theatre, spearheaded by Pamela Perry. It was founded in the early 1980s, when fringe theatre was at its peak in Durban.

In 1984, liaison existed between the Durban Theatre Foundation Academy and the Natal Technikon. A total of 45 students were taught during this time. Ballet and art classes were taught in the Little Abbey Theatre. At this time. approximately 230 students were taught Speech and Drama as an extra curricular activity in the schools, by the Durban Theatre Foundation.

Later known simply as the Durban Theatre Academy. For 20 years it was run by Dennis Rubin.

Productions

1981: Mantis and the Moon, The Secret of the Plain Tree

1982: Mango Leaf Magic, School for Clowns

1983: The Land of Green Ginger, Skungpoomery, Twisty Tales

1984: Badjelly the Witch, Why Strelitzias Cannot Fly, The Reindeer Who Got Lost

1985: The Great Cross Country Race, How Dr Bones Saved Christmas

Sources

Sandra Herrington. 1988. Performance Polemics in a Plural Society: South African Theatre in Transition. Unpublished PhD Thesis. University of Natal.

Greyvenstein, Walter 1988. The history and development of children's theatre in English in South Africa. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Johannesburg: Rand Afrikaans University.

Daily News, 9 May 2003.

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