Darryl at 14:46, 28 May 2026

2026-05-28T14:46:40Z

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2026-05-28T14:44:15Z

Productions

Darryl: Created page with "Pinelands Players is an amateur theatre society in Pinelands, Cape Town. The society was formerly known as St Stephen's Pinelands Repertory Society and Pinelands Reperto..."

2026-05-28T14:41:12Z

Created page with "Pinelands Players is an amateur theatre society in Pinelands, Cape Town. The society was formerly known as St Stephen's Pinelands Repertory Society and Pinelands Reperto..."

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Pinelands Players is an amateur theatre society in Pinelands, Cape Town. The society was formerly known as [[St Stephen's Pinelands Repertory Society]] and [[Pinelands Repertory Society]].

'''For information pre 1987, see [[St Stephen's Pinelands Repertory Society]].'''

==History==

After 39 years, [[St Stephen's Pinelands Repertory Society]], which had been based at St Stephen's Anglican Church in Pinelands, were given six months’ notice that they would no longer be able to use the venue. Homeless and with a bank balance of R600, a collection of costumes and a now inappropriate name, ‘The Reps’ became nomads. The name was changed to The [[Pinelands Repertory Society]] (dropping the St Stephens part), and later to [[Pinelands Players]].

Performing in schools, clubs and the Pinelands town hall, the shows were good but the venues were uninspiring. Disaster struck when the rondavels that were hired to house the costumes and props were continually broken into and vandals eventually set fire to several of them. Pinelands Players were forced to start from scratch.

In 1991, the committee called a special meeting and put forward the suggestion that the curtain be closed permanently and the assets given to charity. However, the 40 members present took a decision to go out with a bang and not a whimper. The following year, every penny was put into a production of ''[[South Pacific]]'' at the [[Little Theatre]]. It was a turning point for South Africa as Nelson Mandela was released from prison, and on a smaller scale, also a turning point for Pinelands Players. The show was successful, made a good profit, and resurrected the society.

There wasn’t a suitable venue in Pinelands, and so many fine, award-winning musicals followed at the [[Little Theatre]] in Orange Street, Cape Town.

Nine plays and musicals were staged after leaving the church. Few of the plays drew public support, despite the high standard of theatre. When in 2001 Fugard’s ''[[People Are Living There]]'' was performed to great critical acclaim but meagre audiences, it was decided that plays were not financially viable and the society would rather stick to musicals, as well as annual Candlelight Supper Theatre productions to be held at the Pinelands town hall.

In 2017 at [[GrandWest]], ''[[The Full Monty the Musical]]'' made a good profit and set the stage for ''[[Hairspray the Musical]]'' at the [[Artscape Theatre]], followed by the play ''[[Calendar Girls]]'' at the [[Masque Theatre]] in Muizenberg (both in 2019). All the profit made from ''[[Calendar Girls]]'' was donated to the [[Masque Theatre]] to raise much-needed funds. ''[[Hairspray]]'' was a record-breaking show that made a far larger profit than any show that Pinelands Players had ever produced.

==Productions==

Productions staged by the society include:

==Sources==

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

https://pinelandsplayers.wordpress.com/about/

Go to [[South African Theatre/Bibliography]]

== Return to ==

Return to [[South_African_Theatre/Venues|South African Theatre Venues, Companies, Societies, etc ]]

Return to [[The ESAT Entries]]

Return to [[Main Page]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:46, 28 May 2026
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−	Pinelands Players is an amateur theatre society in Pinelands, Cape Town. The society was formerly known as [[St Stephen's Pinelands Repertory Society]] and [[Pinelands Repertory Society]].	+	Pinelands Players is an amateur theatre society in Pinelands, Cape Town. The society was formerly known as [[St Stephen's Pinelands Repertory Society]] (established in 1948) and [[Pinelands Repertory Society]].

	'''For information pre 1987, see [[St Stephen's Pinelands Repertory Society]].'''		'''For information pre 1987, see [[St Stephen's Pinelands Repertory Society]].'''

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:44, 28 May 2026
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	Productions staged by the society include:		Productions staged by the society include:
		+
		+	1992: ''[[South Pacific]]''
		+
		+	2001: ''[[People Are Living There]]''
		+
		+	2017: ''[[The Full Monty]]''
		+
		+	2019: ''[[Hairspray the Musical]]'', ''[[Calendar Girls]]''

	==Sources==		==Sources==

Pinelands Players - Revision history

Darryl at 14:46, 28 May 2026

Darryl: /* Productions */

Darryl: Created page with "Pinelands Players is an amateur theatre society in Pinelands, Cape Town. The society was formerly known as St Stephen's Pinelands Repertory Society and Pinelands Reperto..."