Keith Grenville

Keith Grenville. (19*-) Actor, director and compére and tour guide.

Biography

According to Brian Astbury (2015)[1], Grenville was "an accomplished Shakespearean actor who had resettled in South Africa after a successful career in Britain". Having been invited to play "Leontes" in The Winter's Tale at Maynardville in 1971, he stayed on to make Cape Town his home.

In South Africa he then worked at The Space in the 1970s, going on to major work for CAPAB, NAPAC and PACT as actor and director for many years. He also had stints at serving as a Consultant Director at the Baxter Theatre and a Drama director for CAPAB.

He was also active in film and TV from his early days, playing smaller parts in a range of films and TV productions in England, then being cast in more substantial roles in local and international films and TV dramas and series during his South African period.

In the 1990s, Grenville began delivering a series of Egyptological lectures in Cape Town and went on to escort a number of tour groups to Egypt. This led to his founding The Cape Town Egyptian Society on 4 November 1996 (renamed The Egyptian Society of South Africa or TESSA in April, 1997).[2] By the 2000's he had largely retired from acting and continued his very successful career as occasional director, compére and tour guide in Egypt.

Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance

As actor

He emerged as a sought-after actor in South Africa, appearing in a range of plays for many companies and theatres. Among the performances have been:

For Maynardville: The Winter's Tale (1971), Measure for Measure (as "Angelo", 1987), .

For the Space: The Bear, Endgame¸ L’amante Anglaise, Lesson in Blood and Roses, Othello Slegs Blankes¸ Revenge, and 'Tis a Pity She's a Whore.

He has appeared in Jean Anouilh’s The Director of the Opera by (PACT, 1977),

He starred in Peter Shaffer’s The Royal Hunt of the Sun, directed by Leonard Schach together with Marius Weyers, Michael McCabe, David Horner, Patrick Mynhardt and Bill Flynn. It was staged during the opening season of the Pretoria State Theatre in 1981.

For CAPAB: Entertaining Mr Sloane (1977), Dear Liar (as "Shaw", 1979),

For PACT: Jean Anouilh’s The Director of the Opera (1977), Royal Hunt of the Sun (1981, during the opening season of the Pretoria State Theatre,

For the Baxter Theatre: Home (as "Harry", 1978), Dear Liar (1981), King Lear, Under Milkwood (1985),

Film and TV work

He had a long career as a TV and film actor as well, his appearances in local and international films and TV appearances include:

FILMS

Emergency-Ward 10 (1957), The Fourth Reich, Love Me Leave Me and My Partner the Ghost (1969), UFO (1971), Decision to Die (1978), The Star Child (1989), That Englishwoman (1990), The Gospel According to Matthew (1993) ,

Voice-overs: The First Christmas (1998), The Chimes (1999),

TV ROLES

Early roles in British TV series include occasional roles in series like The Wednesday Play (1966), Conflict (1966), The Power Game (1966 & 1969), The Rat Catchers (1966 & 1967), The Informer (1967), Who Is Sylvia? (1967), George and the Dragon (1968), ITV Playhouse (1969), My Partner the Ghost (1969), The Gold Robbers (1969), Complete and Utter History of Britain (1969), Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) (1969-1970), Timeslip (1971), Doomwatch (1971)

South African series include major roles in An Entirely New Concept in Packaging (1983), Shaka Zulu (1986), Arende (1989), Arende II: MoordenaarsKaroo (1992), The Legend of the Hidden City (1996, 1998), as well as appearances in locally filmed international series, like Deadly Jaws (1974) and The Adventures of Sinbad (1996),

As director

He has directed a large number of plays for a range of companies in his active period. Among them:

For the Space Theatre: The Caretaker, A Galway Girl, Fallen Angels

For CAPAB: Dear Liar (1979), The Phantom of the Opera He was also involved in a

For the Baxter Theatre: Under Milkwood (19**), Dear Liar (1981), It's a Boy! (1982), Anyone for Denis? (1983), Under Milkwood (1985), Gulls (1987), Under Milkwood (1996), .

For Volute Productions: Not About Heroes (1986), Michael Drinn’s The Phantom of the Opera in 1990

For Pieter Toerien and Shirley Firth: Robert Kirby’s It's a Boy! (1982)

For Maynardville: Twelfth Night (1989), As You Like It (1999), Othello (2001),

Awards

Received numerous awards over the years, including the Fleur du Cap Theatre Award as Best Leading Actor (1978) and Best Director (1999). 1987 Vita awards for his direction of Gulls.

Sources

SACD 1973,1974.

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0340301/

Pat Schwartz 1988. The Best of Company: The Story of Johannesburg's Market Theatre. Johannesburg: Ad Donker.

Percy Tucker. 1997. Just the Ticket. My 50 Years in Show Business. Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press.

CAPAB theatre programme for Antony and Cleopatra, 1993 (ESAT Archive)

The Taming of the Shrew programme notes, 1996.

Various entries in the NELM catalogue.

NELM: [Collection: GRENVILLE, Keith]: 2014. 273. 3.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Legend_of_the_Hidden_City

https://maynardville.co.za/

Brian Astbury. 2015. "A British playwright, a monkey for President, and a play with a missing leading man…", in: Theatre of Survival. The Story of The Space[3]

https://www.egyptiansociety.co.za/about-us/

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