Margaret Molteno

Margaret Molteno (1912-1985) was a dynamic philanthropist and activist who interested herself in the arts as well.

Also known as Margie Molteno to friends and referred to as Mrs Molteno in some sources.

Biography

Born Margaret Dorothy May Judd, the daughter of Mrs and Colonel B C Judd of Stellenbosch, she married Christopher Jarvis Molteno (1907-2000, known by most as "Peter"), who described himself as an "academic eking out a living in the fishing industry", in 1937, and the couple went on to have six children. Margie and a friend ran a flower shop in Main Rd Kenilworth (up till about 1953) though it did not make much money. (It later became Alison's Flowers[1], a florist and café).

In the 1960s she and her family lived in Chile for a while, where Peter Molteno was employed by the UN to advise the Chilean fishing industry after the 1960 Earthquake had destroyed it.

According to her son Martin Molteno (2021), Margie would also go on to oversee the building of seven houses, the first as replacement for her parents' house in Stellenbosch (which had burnt down), Lane House, Kenilworth and the 5 now world famous Rowan Lane Houses designed by the architects De Sousa Santos.

Margaret passed away at in 1985, aged 73.

Contribution to South African Theatre, Film, Media and Performance

An avid theatre lover, who counted the dancer/choreographers Dulcie Howes and Pamela Chrimes among her friends, Margaret was inspired by a visit to the Regents Park Open Air Theatre in London in 1948, and became convinced that Cape Town could do a far better job of it than any open-air theatre in Europe, because of its more "reliable" weather (especially in the summer months) and beautiful scenery. Coincidently Margaret had at this time become a leading member of a group of women, most of them staunch left wing liberals known colloquially as the Athlone Committee (or the Athlone Committee for Nursery School Education, to give it its full name), who wanted to start a nursery school for children in the Cape Flats.

The group's key initial problem was to raise funds for the project, and so - when the Maynardville Villa grounds was coincidentally the acquired by the Cape Town Municipality in 1949 and declared a park "open to all" - Margaret proposed the idea to the Athlone Committee, suggesting it could be a fund-raising opportunity for their project. To this end a committee was established to look into the matter, chaired by Mrs. Molteno with Lorna Thompson, Dulcie Cooper, Jean Bernadt, Margaret McKenzie and Ann Harris as members. The committee approached the Mayor of Cape Town, for permission to the use of the park without charge, which was approved, but beyond that the municipality could not provide funds for clearing the seriously overgrown grounds or any building activities that might be required.

Mrs Molteno now approached Dulcie Howes, then Principal of UCT Ballet School, for a ballet programme to launch both the park and their fundraising efforts, with the Municipal Orchestra (conducted by Erik Chisholm, Dean and Director of the College of Music and experienced ballet conductor) providing the music. The triple bill presented comprised: Les Sylphides (produced by Cecily Robinson after Fokine), and Dulcie Howes's presentation of St Valentine’s Night and Les Diversions on the evenings of 1, 2 and 3 December 1950.

From that auspicious start the committee would proceed to undertake similar projects among disadvantaged communities in greater Cape Town.

In the mean time, given the success of the first few ballet performances, Mrs Molteno now approached the South African celebrities, Cecilia Sonnenberg and René Ahrenson in 1953 to suggest Maynardville as a venue for Shakespeare performances. After some hesitation they took on the challenge and the Shakespearian period of the Maynardville Open-air Theatre took off (See the entry on the Maynardville Open-air Theatre for full details.)

Sheila Chisholm 2016. The founding of Maynardville Open Air Theatre (contains: "Maynardville performance chronology (1950 to 2015)") Unpublished document. Used with the permission of the author.

Sources

E-mail correspondence with Victoria Cawood (daughter of Dulcie Howes),

E-mail correspondence with Sheila Chisholm, 7 March, 2021.

E-mail correspondence with Steven Molteno (2017)

E-mail correspondence with Martin Molteno (7 March, 2021)

Correspondence from Sheila Chisholm 2016. The founding of Maynardville Open Air Theatre (contains: "Maynardville performance chronology (1950 to 2015)") Unpublished document. Used with the permission of the author.

Interview with Sheila Chisholm, 22 September, 2016.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maynardville_Open-Air_Theatre

http://www.maynardville.co.za/www/pages/index.php

Helen Robinson. 2005. Shakespeare at Maynardville. Houghton House Wynberg, 2005.

Go to the ESAT Bibliography