Victory Theatre

The Victory cinema , Orange Grove, Johannesburg

Originally known as the Grove Kinema, one of the city's oldest cinemas, dating back to the 1920s. Later renamed The Victory cinema

The Victory Theatre (1990s)=

Shortly after it closed as a cinema in the early 1990s, Anthony Farmer transformed it into a theatre called The Victory and designed sets for shows there. These include Bertha Egnos’ Ipi-Tombi II, the NOW Generation in 1989, Grin and Bare It directed by Rex Garner in 1990, Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show in 1992 and Willy Russell’s Shirley Valentine in 1993. ****

By the end of the 1990s it closed down and in 2004 was purchased by music producer and magazine publisher Joe Theron.

The new Victory Theatre(2007-)

The old building was then demolished and a new state-of-the-art venue built as a cost of R28-million, with a view to setting up a home for the dance group Umoja, which Theron has taken under his wing. He opened the new-look 470-seater Victory Theatre in June 2007 with Umoja – The Spirit of Togetherness, a show that traces the history of South African dance. To better cater for patrons, the venue includes a jazz bar and a 250-seater restaurant. Theron bought the four small stores alongside the old Victory Theatre, demolished them and incorporated that space into his new theatre. He has kept the old cinema seats, with a decorative "K" running down each outer chair, a reminder of the days when it was called the Grove Kinema. *

Sources

Tucker, 1997

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