René Ahrenson

René Ahrenson (1905-1990) was an actress, director and theatre entrepreneur.

Biography

Born and raised in Cape Town (??).

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

As director

1938: Love on the Dole (Cape Town Repertory Theatre Society)

1942: Mourning Becomes Electra (Spotlight)

1943: Arsenic and Old Lace (produced by the SAWAS of Command 14 Entertainment Unit (Benoni) at the Standard Theatre, Johannesburg; proceeds from the concert went to the SAWAS Red Cross Prisoners of War Fund and Command 14 Entertainment Welfare Work0.

1943: The Laughing Woman (Spotlight Players)

1944: Home is the Hero (Spotlight Theatre)

1944: Rebecca (African Consolidated Theatres)

1945: The Man Who Could Work Miracles (SABC Radio)

1948: Happy as Larry (UCT Dramatic Society with a cast of students)

As theatre producer/administrator

• Spotlight Theatre

In collaboration with her friend Cecilia Sonnenberg, she created the Spotlight Theatre during the second world war and they held numerous play readings in the Electricity House Theatre in Strand Street.

• Maynardville Open-Air Theatre

In 1956 she and Sonnenberg initiated and went on to manage the Shaespeare productions at the Maynardville Open-Air Theatre in Wynberg, Cape Town. There she appeared in and directed numerous productions.

• The Company of Four

She was a founder member of The Company of Four (1977-1983) with Leonard Schach, Donald Inskip and Cecilia Sonnenberg.

=As actress

Ahrenson also appeared in a number of plays, including: The Merry Wives of Windsor ((Maynardville, 1969)

Sources

The Women's Auxiliary, September 1943, pg 39.

See: De Beer, 1995; Tucker, 1997; Inskip, 197*

Go to South African Theatre/Bibliography

Return to

Return to ESAT Personalities A

Return to South African Theatre Personalities

Return to The ESAT Entries

Return to Main Page