Piet van der Walt Theatre
A well-equipped multi-purpose theatre built at the Pretoria Showgrounds. Named after ***. Used for the finals of the SACEE One-act Play Festival in Pretoria annually.
Pieter Toerien's production of Schaffer's Equus (1974) was also done there, since there were fears the stage full frontal nudity would not be acceptable in the Breytenbach Theatre, so it was banned by the Municipal authorities(?*).
The theatre was opened to all races in 1977. On the opening night of The Monkey Walk, however, rightwingers lobbed teargas into the auditorium. From the following night security guards patrolled the grounds and protected the actors.
Productions
Productions staged here include:
1971: Thurkaari, Demon of the Curry Powders
1973: Pinocchio, Beauty and the Beast
1976: Peter Pan
1977: Listen to the Wind
1978: Alice in Wonderland
1981: The Amazing Adventures of Tambootie the Puppet
Sources
Gosher, 1988
Pretoria News, 19 July 1978.
Sunday Times, 4 February 1996.
Greyvenstein, Walter 1988. The history and development of children's theatre in English in South Africa. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Johannesburg: Rand Afrikaans University.
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