Difference between revisions of "Leonard Schach"

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(1918-1996) Producer, stage director and entrepreneur. Born in Cape Town on 10th September 1918, he studied at South African College High School (SACS) and the [[University of Cape Town]] (majoring in Psychology, History and Social Anthropology), with a graduate degrees in History and Law. He then moved into theatre and remained there for the rest of his life, doing more than 300 productions. The first professional production he directed was ''[[The Heiress]]'', based on [[Henry James]]’ ''[[Washington Square,]]'' which was staged at the [[Hofmeyr Theatre]] in October 1949. He directed numerous productions for the [[Little Theatre]], the [[Cockpit Players]] (which he founded in 1950), the [[Johannesburg REPS]],  the [[East Rand Theatre Club]], [[National Theatre Organisation]] ([[NTO]]) and  the Performing Arts Councils (e.g. [[CAPAB]] and [[PACT]]), Among the most notable of these were ''[[Cockpit]]'' (1949), ''[[The Glass Menagerie]]'' (1949), ''[[Lady Windermere's Fan]]'' (1952), ''[[The House of Bernarda Alba]]'' (1952), ''[[Volpone]]'' (1952), ''[[The Young Elizabeth]]'' (1953), ''[[Waiting for Godot]]'' (1955), ''[[The Diary of Anne Frank]]'' (1957), ''[[Try for White]]'' (1959), ''[[The Caretaker]]'' (1960), ''[[The Night of the Iguana]]'' (1962). On occasion acted as adjudicator for the [[FATSSA Play Festival]]. Gained a reputation for often bringing new theatre to South Africa merely months after their domestic premieres. In 1964 he directed ''[[After the Fall]]'', and was subsequently invited to direct productions of it in England, Belgium and Israel. Upon this he moved to Israel, for ten years(?), where he directed many productions for the Cameri Theatre in Tel Aviv. His production of ''[[The Comedians]]'' was one of the opening productions in the [[Market Theatre]] in 1976 attracted a lot of attention from the censorship board. He subsequently directed a number of other plays for various managements in South Africa – including , ***, ''[[Royal Hunt of the Sun]]'' ([[PACT]], 197*), ''[[Macbeth]]'' ([[PACT]], 198*) and in 1977 he, [[René Ahrenson]], [[Cecilia Sonnenberg]] and [[Donald Inskip]] began the production company called [[The Company of Four]], which lasted till 1986. An early biography by [[Donald Inskip]] (Stage by Stage: The Leonard Schach Story. Cape Town: Howard Timmins, 1977) provides much early material, while his own autobiography (''The Flag is Flying'', published by Human and Rousseau, 1996) is a fact filled survey of the history of twentieth century South African theatre from a subjective, personal perspective. In 1989 he received the [[Fleur du Cap Lifetime Award]] for his contribution to the industry. Just before he was due to fly to South Africa for the launch of his book, he took ill and passed away on 20th November 1996. He [[The Leonard Schach Fund for Theater Productions]] - South Africa and Israel.  SCHACH, Leonard. While in the South African Navy, Schach directed [[Leon Gluckman]] and [[Cecil Williams]] in ''[[The Middle Watch]]'' at the [[Little Theatre]] in 1944. Member of the [[Company of Four]] with [[René Ahrenson]], [[Donald Inskip]] and [[Cecilia Sonnenburg]]. Directed productions for the [[East Rand Theatre Club]]. He staged [[Tennessee Williams]]’ ''[[The Glass Menagerie]]'' at the [[University of Cape Town]]’s [[Little Theatre]] in 1948. Cast included [[Rosalie van der Gucht]] and [[Rosemary Kirkcaldy]]. He once again directed this play in 1949, during his stint as Acting Controller of the [[Little Theatre]], for the [[National Theatre]] starring [[Anna Romain Hoffman]] and [[Nita Economides]]. Staged [[Bridget Boland]]’s ''[[Cockpit]]'' at the [[Little Theatre]] in 1949, and after it’s monumental success, formed a professional company, the [[Cockpit Players]], who made [[Hofmeyr Theatre]] their home. Directed ''[[The Heiress]]'', a [[Brian Brooke]] production for [[ACT]]’s touring circuit of 1949. Organised a three month tour where theatre enthusiasts could view the famous theatres, opera houses and concert halls of Britain and Europe in 1951. He was the South African representative of the [[International Theatre Institure]] ([[ITI]]). He directed the [[Ben Jonson]] satire ''[[Volpone]]'' for the [[National Theatre]] at the [[Reps Theatre]] in 1952. This hit show starred [[Siegfried Mynhardt]], [[Pieter Geldenhuys]], [[Gerrit Wessels]], [[Edna Jacobson]], [[Frank Wise]] and [[Vivienne Drummond]], and enjoyed another run at the [[Benoni Town Hall]] later that year. He directed [[Lorca]]’s Spanish drama ''[[The House of Bernarda Alba]]'' for the [[Reps]] in September 1952. The cast included [[Muriel Alexander]], [[Molly Seftel]] and [[Mary Mitchell]]. He directed ''[[The Madwoman of Chaillot]]'' for the [[Reps]] to celebrate the first birthday of their theatre in 1952, starring [[Haidee Cassell]]. He directed his favourite [[Shakespeare]], ''[[Twelfth Night]]'' two times for the [[National Theatre]] in 1953, once in English and once in Afrikaans. He also directed this play for the Theatre Royal du Parc in Brussels in 1953. He returned to Johannesburg to direct the [[Reps]] production of ''[[The Young Elizabeth]]'', based on the life of Elizabeth I to mark the coronation of Elizabeth II later that same year. The cast included the aspiring writer [[Theo Aronson]]. Schach’s [[National Theatre]] production of ''[[The Firstborn]]'' in 1954 saw [[Leon Gluckman]] in the lead. [[Webster Booth]] and his wife [[Anne Ziegler]] starred in ''[[Spring Quartet]]'' for Leonard Schach in Cape Town in September 1956. He attended the first meeting of  the [[South African Association of Theatrical Managements]], established early 1956. He directed [[Samuel Beckett]]’s ''[[Waiting for Godot]]'' in 1955 in Cape Town and then collaborated with [[Leon Gluckman]] and [[Taubie Kushlick]] as co-producers to stage it once again, this time at the [[Technical College Hall]] in 1956, starring [[Alec Bell]], [[Gerrit Wessels]] and [[Gavin Haughton]]. [[Joss Ackland]] played leads for Leonard Schach’s [[Cockpit Players]] before returning to England. He directed [[Arthur Miller]]’s ''[[A View from the Bridges]]'' for the [[Reps]] starring the Irish actor [[Niall MacGinnis]] and Durban actor, [[Louis Burke]], making his first stage appearance in Johannesburg in 1957. He directed ''[[The Diary of Anne Frank]]'' in Cape Town starring [[Felicity Bosman]] and [[Joss Ackland]] in 1957. He directed ''[[Yours Anne]]'', a music drama based on the diaries of Anne Frank which was produced to coincide with an Anne Frank Exhibition that toured South Africa in 1994. [[The National Theatre]] presented his production of ''[[Summer of the Seventeenth Doll]]'' at the [[Reps]] at the end of 1957. It was written by the Australian [[Ray Lawler]], and starred [[Marjorie Gordon]]. [[Leon Gluckman]] returned to the Johannesburg stage in January 1958 in Schach’s production of the American play, ''[[Career]]'', at the [[Reps]]. Schach’s [[Cockpit Players]] embarked on a lengthy Johannesburg run of four of their recent Cape Town successes in 1959. The first production was ''[[Long Day’s Journey Into Night]]'' starring [[Leon Gluckman]]. Next, [[Basil Warner]]’s ''[[Try for White]]'' opened at the [[Pretoria Opera House]] before moving to the [[Intimate Theatre]] for the remainder of their highly successful run. It starred [[Marjorie Gordon]], [[Nigel Hawthorne]], [[Zoe Randall]], [[Michael Turner]] and [[Joyce Grant]] and [[Fiona Fraser]] (replacing [[Minna Millsten]] and [[Heather Lloyd-Jones]] respectively, from the Cape Town cast). [[Leon Gluckman]] and [[John McElvey]] went straight into [[Jerome Lawrence]] and [[Robert E. Lee]]’s prizewinning play ''[[Inherit the Wind]]'', for which Leonard hired the [[Brooke Theatre]]. The fourth [[Cockpit Players]] production was [[Thornton Wilder]]’s lively period-New York comedy, ''[[The Matchmaker]]''. This enduring show starring [[Marjorie Gordon]] as Dolly Levi, [[John McKelvey]], [[Nigel Hawthorne]], [[Michael McGovern]], [[Robert Haber]] and [[Heather Lloyd-Jones]], became the musical ''[[Hello, Dolly!]]''. [[David Beattie]] made his final appearance for Leonard’s satirical  revue, ''[[Beyond the Fringe]]''. He was a guest director at [[The Barn Theatre]] in the 1960’s. His production of ''[[A Majority of One]]'' starring [[Sarah Sylvia]] and [[Frank Wise]] opened in January 1960. He directed [[Brendan Behan]]’s play ''[[The Hostage]]'' which was staged at the [[Intimate Theatre]] in 1960. Yet the [[YMCA]] committee for the [[Intimate]] refused permission to stage his ''[[Lock Up Your Daughters]]''. His production of ''[[The Aspern Papers]]'' ran at the [[Playhouse]] after their season at the [[Hofmeyr]] in 1960. [[Michael Redgrave]]’s adaptation of this [[Henry James]] story saw the British actress [[Flora Robson]] in the lead opposite Canadian actor [[Robert Beatty]]. In December 1960 Schach announced he had signed a two-year lease with the [[Playhouse]]. His [[Cockpit Players]] maintained a high standard at the [[Playhouse]] in 1961 with [[Harold Pinter]]’s ''[[The Caretaker]]'' with [[Siegfried Mynhardt]], [[Michael McGovern]] and [[Nigel Hawthorne]], and [[Paddy Chayefsky]]’s prizewinning ''[[The Tenth Man]]'', starring the same actors. His [[Cockpit Players]] did [[William Gibson]]’s ''[[The Miracle Worker]]'' at the [[Playhouse]] in 1961, starring [[Reinet Maasdorp]] and [[Fiona Fraser]]. His musical revue called ''[[Something New]]'', with [[John Boulter]] and British comedienne [[Beryl Reid]] opened in Cape Town in December 1961, before going to Johannesburg early in 1962. He directed [[Harold Pinter]]’s ''[[The Birthday Party]]'', followed by [[Tennessee Williams]]’ ''[[The Night of the Iguana]]'' which was staged at the [[Playhouse]] by the [[Cockpit Players]] in 1962. In his company of actors for these plays were [[Siegfried Mynhardt]], [[Michael McGovern]], [[Margaret Inglis]], [[Marjorie Gordon]], [[Diane Wilson]] and [[Kerry Jordan]]. He directed ''[[Twaalfde Nag]]'' in 1964, and then joined forces with [[Leon Gluckman]] to produce [[Arthur Miller]]’s ''[[After the Fall]]'', with Leonard directing and [[Leon Gluckman]] starring together with [[Erica Rogers]]. It was staged at the [[University Great Hall]] and then at the [[Luxurama]] for multi-racial audiences He directed four more productions of ''[[After the Fall]]'': In Israel, Brussels, London and again in South Africa in 1981 as [[PACT]]’s opening production at the [[Pretoria State Theatre]], starring American [[Brian Murray]] and [[Erica Rogers]]. He left the country after his 1964 production of ''[[After the Fall]]'' because of restrictions placed on his work by the apartheid system. He settled in Israel, but returned frequently as a guest director. He came back to direct [[Shaw]]’s ''[[Heartbreak House]]'' for [[PACT]] at the [[Alexander]] in 1967. It starred [[Joan Blake]], [[Siegfried Mynhardt]], [[Alec Bell]], [[Elizabeth Meyer]], [[Kerry Jordan]], [[François Swart]], [[Frank Lazarus]] and [[Maggie Soboil]]. He directed [[Tom Stoppard]]’s ''[[Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead]]'' for a [[Reps]]-[[PACT]] collaboration production in 1967. He directed [[Aleksei Arbuzov]]’s ''[[The Promise]]'', which was staged at the [[Brooke]] in 1967 by [[Pieter Toerien]] and [[Basil Rubin]]. It starred English actor [[Andrew Ray]], [[John Fraser]] and [[Olive MacFarlane]]. He directed ''[[A Month in the Country]]'', for [[PACT]] at the [[Alexander]] in 1969. It starred [[Vivienne Drummond]], [[Erica Rogers]], [[Kerry Jordan]] and [[Siegfried Mynhardt]]. He directed ''[[Lang Dagreis na die Nag]]'', a translation of ''[[Long Day’s Journey into Night]]'', starring [[Schalk Jacobsz]] in 1970. [[PACT]] presented two of his productions in 1971: the [[Paul Zindel]] play ''[[The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-moon Marigolds]]'', starring [[Marjorie Gordon]] and [[Janice Honeyman]]; and [[The Case of J. Robert Oppenheimer]] starring [[John Hayter]]. He directed [[Robert Patrick]]’s ''[[Kennedy’s Children]]'' for [[The Company]] starring [[Bess Finney]], [[John Higgins]], [[Erica Rogers]], [[John Rogers]] and [[Lynn Hooker]] at the [[Chelsea Theatre]] in 1975. He directed the [[Pieter Toerien]] production of  [[Peter Shaffer]]’s ''[[Equus]]'' which starred British actors [[John Fraser]] and [[Dai Bradley]] together with [[Anne Courtneidge]], [[Kim Braden]], [[Fiona Fraser]] and [[Michael Howard]] at the [[Civic]] in 1975. He directed [[Trevor Griffiths]]’ ''[[Comedians]]'' starring [[Bill Brewer]], [[Michael Howard]], [[Danny Keogh]], [[Richard Cox]], [[Ian Hamilton]], [[Robert Whitehead]] and [[Anthony James]]. It was staged at [[The Market Theatre]] in December 1976 and was designed by [[Anthony Farmer]]. His production of an Afrikaans version of ''[[The Diary of Anne Frank]]'' with [[Elise Hibbert]] was staged by [[PACT]] at the [[Alexander]] in 1977. He directed an Afrikaans translation ''[[Die Wonderwerk]]'' (''[[The Miracle Worker]]'') starring [[Diane Britz]] and [[Trix Pienaar]] for [[PACT]] in 1978. He directed [[William Gibson]]’s ''[[Golda]]'' starring [[Thelma Ruby]] at the [[Alexander]] in 1978. He directed ''[[‘n Maand op die Platteland]]'' ([[Turgenev]]’s ''[[A Month in the Country]]'') for [[PACT]] in 1979. He directed [[Hugh Leonard]]’s ''[[Da]]'' with [[Godfrey Quigley]] and [[Michael McGovern]] at the [[Andre Huguenet]] in 1979. It later went to the [[Intimate Theatre]]. He directed ''[[Macbeth]]'' with [[Ron Smerczak]] and [[Sandra Prinsloo]] for [[PACT]] at the [[Alexander]] and [[Harold Pinter]]’s ''[[Betrayal]]'' starring [[Helen Bourne]], [[Michael McGovern]] and [[Michael McCabe]] for [[PACT]] in 1980. He directed [[Peter Shaffer]]’s ''[[The Royal Hunt of the Sun]]'' starring [[Keith Grenville]], [[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. He directed [[Ronald Harwood]]’s ''[[The Dresser]]'' starring [[Michael Atkinson]], [[Michael McCabe]], [[Shelagh Holliday]], [[Paddy Canavan]], [[Lynne Maree]] and [[Simon Swindell]] at the [[Baxter]] in November 1980. It was also staged at the [[Market]] in 1982 before enjoying a successful run in Israel. He directed [[Shalagh Holliday]], [[Lynne Maree]] and [[Eric Flynn]] in the staged version of [[Helene Hanff]]’s memoir, ''[[84 Charing Cross Road]]'' at the [[Market]] in April 1982. He directed [[Caryl Brahms]] and [[Ned Sherrin]]’s [[Beecham]] starring [[Michael Atkinson]] which [[Leonard Schach]] directed for the [[Company of Four]] at the [[Market]] in 1984. He directed [[Lee Blessing]]’s ''[[A Walk in the Woods]]'' at the [[Market]] in 1989. He presented ''[[A Walk in the Woods]]'' at the [[Windybrow]] in 1990. His [[Baxter]] production of ''[[Beecham]]'' was staged at the [[Civic’s Youth Theatre]] in 1993. He died on 20 November 1996. SCHACH, Leonard, ''[[Macbeth]]'' ([[Pact]]), ''[[84 Charing Cross Road]]'', ''[[The Dresser]]'', [[The company of Four]] ([[Market Theatre]]), ''[[Beecham]]'' with [[Michael Atkinson]], [[Ron Smerzcak]], [[Caryl Brahms]], [[Ned Sherrin]]. Musical sequences:  [[Leo Quayle]], 1984.
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[[Leonard Schach|Leonard Lazarus Schach]] (1918–1996) was a South African theatrical director and producer and entrepreneur.  
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= Biography =
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Born in Cape Town on 10th September 1918, he studied at South African College High School (SACS) and the [[University of Cape Town]] (majoring in Psychology, History and Social Anthropology), with a graduate degree in History and Law.  
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In 1948 he turned to theatre as a career. Up to 1964 he lived in South Africa, working in theatre, before emigrating to Israel in 1965. Just before he was due to fly to South Africa for the launch of his autobiography, ''[[The Flag is Flying]]'', he took ill and passed away in Tel Aviv on 20th November 1996.
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= His contribution to South African theatre =
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Early on he showed an interest in the theatre by serving as president of the amateur [[University Dramatic Society]] at the University of Cape Town in 1939–42.
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From 1948 to 1964 he worked in South African theatre, founding his own professional company in 1951 (originally the [[Cockpit Players]], later [[Leonard Schach Productions]]). He directed over 200 productions, before emigrating to Israel in 1965.
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He occasionally returned to direct work in South Africa, and in 1977 he, [[René Ahrenson]], [[Cecilia Sonnenberg]] and [[Donald Inskip]] began the production company called [[The Company of Four]].
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== The South African period 1948-1964 ==
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The first professional production he directed was ''[[The Heiress]]'', based on [[Henry James]]'s novel ''Washington Square'', which was staged at the [[Hofmeyr Theatre]] in October 1949. He went on to direct numerous productions for the [[Little Theatre]], the [[Cockpit Players]] , the [[Johannesburg REPS]], the [[East Rand Theatre Club]], [[National Theatre Organisation]] ([[NTO]]), [[Leonard Schach Productions]], [[The Company of Four]] (1977-1984), and  the Performing Arts Councils (e.g. [[CAPAB]] and [[PACT]]).
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Among the most notable of these were ''[[Cockpit]]'' (1949), ''[[The Glass Menagerie]]'' (1949), ''[[Lady Windermere's Fan]]'' (1952), ''[[The House of Bernarda Alba]]'' (1952), ''[[Volpone]]'' (1952), ''[[The Young Elizabeth]]'' (1953), ''[[Waiting for Godot]]'' (1955), ''[[The Diary of Anne Frank]]'' (1957), ''[[Try for White]]'' (1959), ''[[The Caretaker]]'' (1960), ''[[The Night of the Iguana]]'' (1962).
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He was involved in the Broadway debut of the production of ''[[After the Fall]]'' and had befriended Miller. He obtained the rights to the play and produced it, with [[Leon Gluckman]], just months after its Broadway premiere, in [[Wits Great Hall|Wits University Great Hall]] Johannesburg as part of the Johannesburg Festival and [[Luxurama|Luxurama Theatre]], Cape Town ([[Cockpit Players]]) in 1964 for multi-racial audiences. This was the last play directed by [[Leonard Schach]] prior to settling in Israel. Schach directed four more productions of ''After the Fall'': In Israel, Brussels, London and again in South Africa in 1981 when it was [[PACT]]’s opening production in the Pretoria [[State Theatre]].
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=== His theatre companies ===
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'''[[National Theatre Organization]]'''
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In 1947–48 he undertook a world survey of national subsidized theatre on behalf of the South African Department of Adult Education, contributing to the establishment of the [[National Theatre Organization]] ([[NTO]]) in 1948.  He directed ''[[Summer of the Seventeenth Doll]]'', ''[[Volpone]]'', ''[[Twelve Night]]'' the last was later done for PACT in Afrikaans with [[Uys Krige]] as translator, [[Anouilh's]] ''[[Antigone]]'' and Chekhov's  [[Anniversary]].
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Schach soon moved into production, creating a company called the [[Cockpit Players]] in 1950-. Later this was renamed [[Leonard Schach Productions]] (1951-). After his move to Israel, he set up the [[Company of Four]] with South African colleagues [[René Ahrenson]], [[Cecilia Sonnenberg]] and [[Donald Inskip]] (1977-1986) to produce work in the country. Much of his directing work was done for these companies, though he also worked extensively with [[NTO]] and later the [[Performing Arts Councils]] as well. 
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Work at the [[Little Theatre]]
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'''The [[Performing Arts Councils]]'''
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=== His South African productions ===
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While in the South African Navy, Schach directed [[Leon Gluckman]] and [[Cecil Williams]] in ''[[The Middle Watch]]'' at the [[Little Theatre]] in 1944.
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He staged [[Tennessee Williams]]'s ''[[The Glass Menagerie]]'' at the [[University of Cape Town]]’s [[Little Theatre]] in 1948. The cast included [[Rosalie van der Gucht]] and [[Rosemary Jean Kirkcaldy]]. He once again directed this play in 1949, during his stint as Acting Controller of the [[Little Theatre]], for the [[National Theatre]] starring [[Anna Romain Hoffman]] and [[Nita Economides]].
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He staged [[Bridget Boland]]’s ''[[Cockpit]]'' at the [[Little Theatre]] in 1949, and after its monumental success, formed a professional company, the [[Cockpit Players]], who made [[Hofmeyr Theatre]] their home.  
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He directed ''[[The Heiress]]'', a [[Brian Brooke]] production for [[ACT]]’s touring circuit of 1949.  
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He directed the Ben Jonson satire ''[[Volpone]]'' for the [[National Theatre]] at the [[Reps Theatre]] in 1952, Lorca’s Spanish drama ''[[The House of Bernarda Alba]]'' for the [[Johannesburg Reps]] in September 1952, ''[[The Madwoman of Chaillot]]'' for the [[Johannesburg Reps]] to celebrate the first birthday of their theatre in 1952. He directed his favourite Shakespeare, ''[[Twelfth Night]]'' two times for the [[National Theatre]] in 1953, once in English and once in [[Afrikaans]]. He also directed this play for the Theatre Royal du Parc in Brussels in 1953.  
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He returned to Johannesburg to direct the [[Johannesburg Reps]] production of ''[[The Young Elizabeth]]'', based on the life of Elizabeth I to mark the coronation of Elizabeth II later that same year. The cast included the aspiring writer [[Theo Aronson]].  
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Schach’s [[National Theatre]] production of ''[[The Firstborn]]'' in 1954 saw [[Leon Gluckman]] in the lead.  
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[[Webster Booth]] and his wife [[Anne Ziegler]] starred in ''[[Spring Quartet]]'' for Leonard Schach in Cape Town in September 1956.  
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He directed Samuel Beckett’s ''[[Waiting for Godot]]'' in 1955 in Cape Town and then collaborated with [[Leon Gluckman]] and [[Taubie Kushlick]] as co-producers to stage it once again, this time at the [[Technical College Hall]] in 1956, starring [[Alec Bell]], [[Gerrit Wessels]] and [[Gavin Haughton]]. [[Joss Ackland]] played leads for Leonard Schach’s [[Cockpit Players]] before returning to England.  
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He directed [[Arthur Miller]]’s ''[[A View from the Bridge]]'' for the [[Johannesburg Reps|Reps]] starring the Irish actor [[Niall MacGinnis]] and Durban actor, [[Louis Burke]], making his first stage appearance in Johannesburg in 1957, ''[[The Diary of Anne Frank]]'' in Cape Town in 1957.
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The [[National Theatre]] presented his production of ''[[Summer of the Seventeenth Doll]]'' at the [[Johannesburg Reps]] at the end of 1957. It was written by the Australian Ray Lawler, and starred [[Marjorie Gordon]].
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[[Leon Gluckman]] returned to the Johannesburg stage in January 1958 in Schach’s production of the American play, ''[[Career]]'', at the [[Johannesburg Reps|Reps]].  
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Schach’s [[Cockpit Players]] embarked on a lengthy Johannesburg run of four of their recent Cape Town successes in 1959. The first production was ''[[Long Day's Journey into Night]]'' starring [[Leon Gluckman]]. Next, [[Basil Warner]]’s ''[[Try for White]]'' opened at the [[Pretoria Opera House]] before moving to the [[Intimate Theatre]] for the remainder of their highly successful run. [[Leon Gluckman]] and [[John McKelvey]] went straight into Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee’s prizewinning play ''[[Inherit the Wind]]'', for which Leonard hired the [[Brooke Theatre]]. The fourth [[Cockpit Players]] production was [[Thornton Wilder]]’s lively period-New York comedy, ''[[The Matchmaker]]''. This enduring show became the musical ''[[Hello, Dolly!]]''.  
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[[David Beattie]] made his final appearance for Leonard’s satirical  revue, ''[[Beyond the Fringe]]''.
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He was a guest director at The [[Barn Theatre]] in the 1960’s.
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His production of ''[[A Majority of One]]'' starring [[Sarah Sylvia]] and [[Frank Wise]] opened in January 1960. He directed Brendan Behan’s play ''[[The Hostage]]'' which was staged at the [[Intimate Theatre]] in 1960. Yet the [[YMCA]] committee for the [[Intimate]] refused permission to stage his ''[[Lock Up Your Daughters]]''.
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His production of ''[[The Aspern Papers]]'' ran at the [[Playhouse]] (Cape Town) after their season at the [[Hofmeyr Theatre]] in 1960. [[Michael Redgrave]]’s adaptation of this [[Henry James]] story saw the British actress [[Flora Robson]] in the lead opposite Canadian actor [[Robert Beatty]].  
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In December 1960 Schach announced he had signed a two-year lease with the [[Playhouse]] in Cape Town. His [[Cockpit Players]] maintained a high standard at the [[Playhouse]] in 1961 with [[Harold Pinter]]’s ''[[The Caretaker]]'' with [[Siegfried Mynhardt]], [[Michael McGovern]] and [[Nigel Hawthorne]], and Paddy Chayefsky’s prizewinning ''[[The Tenth Man]]'', starring the same actors.  
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His [[Cockpit Players]] did William Gibson’s ''[[The Miracle Worker]]'' at the [[Playhouse]] in 1961, starring [[Reinet Maasdorp]] and [[Fiona Fraser]].
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His musical revue called ''[[Something New]]'', with [[John Boulter]] and British comedienne [[Beryl Reid]] opened in Cape Town in December 1961, before going to Johannesburg early in 1962.
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He directed Harold Pinter’s ''[[The Birthday Party]]'', followed by Tennessee Williams's ''[[The Night of the Iguana]]'' which was staged at the [[Playhouse]] by the [[Cockpit Players]] in 1962. In his company of actors for these plays were [[Siegfried Mynhardt]], [[Michael McGovern]], [[Margaret Inglis]], [[Marjorie Gordon]], [[Diane Wilson]] and [[Kerry Jordan]].
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He left the country after his 1964 production of ''[[After the Fall]]'' because of restrictions placed on his work by the apartheid system. He settled in Israel, but returned frequently as a guest director. He came back to direct Shaw’s ''[[Heartbreak House]]'' for [[PACT]] at the [[Alexander Theatre]] in 1967, Tom Stoppard’s ''[[Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead]]'' for a [[Johannesburg Reps]]-[[PACT]] collaboration production in 1967, Aleksei Arbuzov’s ''[[The Promise]]'', ''[[A Month in the Country]]'', for [[PACT]] at the [[Alexander Theatre]] in 1969, ''[[Lang Dagreis na die Nag]]'' in 1970.
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[[PACT]] presented two of his productions in 1971: the Paul Zindel play ''[[The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-moon Marigolds]]'', starring [[Marjorie Gordon]] and [[Janice Honeyman]]; and ''[[In the Case of J. Robert Oppenheimer]]'' starring [[John Hayter]].
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In 1965, he directed the opera ''[[Prodaná nevěsta]]'' for [[CAPAB]], and in 1972, ''[[Don Giovanni]]'' for [[PACT]].
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He directed ''[[Kennedy's Children]]'' for [[The Company]] (1975), the [[Pieter Toerien]] production of [[Peter Shaffer]]’s ''[[Equus]]'' (1975), ''[[Comedians]]'' at The [[Market Theatre]] in December 1976. His production of ''[[Comedians]]'' was one of the opening productions in the [[Market Theatre]]. It attracted a lot of attention from the censorship board.
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He subsequently directed a number of other plays for various managements in South Africa.  His production of an Afrikaans version of ''[[The Diary of Anne Frank]]'' with [[Elise Hibbert]] was staged by [[PACT]] at the [[Alexander Theatre]] in 1977. He directed ''[[Die Wonderwerk]]'' (1978), ''[[Golda]]'' (1978), ''[['n Maand op die Platteland]]'' (1979), ''[[Da]]'' (1979), ''[[Macbeth]]'' (1980), ''[[The Royal Hunt of the Sun]]'' (1981), ''[[The Dresser]]'' (1980). It was also staged at the [[Market Theatre]] in 1982 before enjoying a successful run in Israel.  
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He directed ''[[84 Charing Cross Road]]'' at the [[Market Theatre]] in April 1982, ''[[Beecham]]'' (1984), ''[[A Walk in the Woods]]'' (1989), ''[[A Walk in the Woods]]'' (1990).  
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His [[Baxter Theatre]] production of ''[[Beecham]]'' was staged at the [[Civic Theatre|Civic’s Youth Theatre]] in Johannesburg in 1993.
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In 1994 ''[[Yours Anne]]'' opened in Cape Town. This was to be Leonard's last new production in South Africa before his death.
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== The Israeli period 1965-1996 ==
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He moved to Israel in 1965 where he directed many productions for the Cameri Theatre in Tel Aviv. In addition he directed for Habimah, the Haifa Municipal Theater, Zavit, Bimot, Giora Godick Productions, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and the Israel Chamber Ensemble Orchestra.
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He also directed plays and operas in England, the United States, Italy, and Belgium, and made the film Cry in the Wind in Greece.
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== Other activities ==
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Leonard organised a three-month tour where theatre enthusiasts could view the famous theatres, opera houses and concert halls of Britain and Europe in 1951.  
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He was the South African representative of the [[International Theatre Institure]] ([[ITI]]).
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He attended the first meeting of the [[South African Association of Theatrical Managements]], established early 1956.
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On occasion acted as adjudicator for the [[FATSSA Play Festival]].
 +
 
 +
== Writings by and about Schach ==
 +
 
 +
An early biography by [[Donald Inskip]] ([[Stage by Stage: The Leonard Schach Story]]. Cape Town: [[Howard Timmins]], 1977) provides much early material, while his own autobiography (''[[The Flag is Flying]]'', published by [[Human and Rousseau]], 1996) is a fact filled survey of the history of twentieth century South African theatre from a subjective, personal perspective.
 +
 
 +
== Awards and honours ==
 +
Schach was the recipient of many awards, including the 1960 Cape Tercentenarian Award of Merit (1960), the Queen of England's Coronation Medal for services to the English theatre (1953), the Drama Critics of Brussels award (for ''[[After the Fall]]'', 1966), Israel's David's Harp award for best director of the year (''[[Birthday Party]]'', 1968), and the [[Breytenbach Award]] of South Africa for best director of the year for his production of ''[[Equus]]'' (1976). He has also been granted the Freedom of the City of Cape Town for his theatrical activity.
 +
 
 +
In 1989 he received the [[Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards|Fleur due Cap Lifetime Achievement Award]] for his contribution to the industry.
 +
 
 +
He founded the [[The Leonard Schach Fund for Theatre Productions]] - South Africa and Israel.
 +
 
 +
== Sources ==
 +
Louis Isaac Rabinowitz "Schach, Leonard Lazarus" in ''Encyclopaedia Judaica'' (© 2008 The Gale Group)[http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0018_0_17603.html]  
 +
 
 +
[[ESAT Bibliography I|Inskip, Donald P.]], 1977.
 +
 
 +
[[ESAT Bibliography Scha|Schach]], 1996.
 +
 
 +
[[ESAT Bibliography Tra-Tz|Tucker]], 1997.
 +
 
 +
Virtual Library [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0018_0_17603.html]
 +
 
 +
[[Alexandra Xenia Sabina Mossolow]][http://classicsa.co.za/site/listings/view/classicsa_sabina_mossolow_soprano/?s=musicians&f=ind&m=2&ms=1]. 2003. ''The career of South African soprano [[Nellie du Toit]], born 1929''. Unpublished Masters thesis. [[University of Stellenbosch]].[http://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/16394]
 +
 
 +
== Return to ==
  
−
== Sources ==     
 
−
(Tucker, 1997) 
 
  
 
Return to [[ESAT Personalities S]]
 
Return to [[ESAT Personalities S]]

Latest revision as of 14:07, 27 March 2024

Leonard Lazarus Schach (1918–1996) was a South African theatrical director and producer and entrepreneur.

Biography

Born in Cape Town on 10th September 1918, he studied at South African College High School (SACS) and the University of Cape Town (majoring in Psychology, History and Social Anthropology), with a graduate degree in History and Law.

In 1948 he turned to theatre as a career. Up to 1964 he lived in South Africa, working in theatre, before emigrating to Israel in 1965. Just before he was due to fly to South Africa for the launch of his autobiography, The Flag is Flying, he took ill and passed away in Tel Aviv on 20th November 1996.

His contribution to South African theatre

Early on he showed an interest in the theatre by serving as president of the amateur University Dramatic Society at the University of Cape Town in 1939–42.

From 1948 to 1964 he worked in South African theatre, founding his own professional company in 1951 (originally the Cockpit Players, later Leonard Schach Productions). He directed over 200 productions, before emigrating to Israel in 1965.

He occasionally returned to direct work in South Africa, and in 1977 he, René Ahrenson, Cecilia Sonnenberg and Donald Inskip began the production company called The Company of Four.

The South African period 1948-1964

The first professional production he directed was The Heiress, based on Henry James's novel Washington Square, which was staged at the Hofmeyr Theatre in October 1949. He went on to direct numerous productions for the Little Theatre, the Cockpit Players , the Johannesburg REPS, the East Rand Theatre Club, National Theatre Organisation (NTO), Leonard Schach Productions, The Company of Four (1977-1984), and the Performing Arts Councils (e.g. CAPAB and PACT).

Among the most notable of these were Cockpit (1949), The Glass Menagerie (1949), Lady Windermere's Fan (1952), The House of Bernarda Alba (1952), Volpone (1952), The Young Elizabeth (1953), Waiting for Godot (1955), The Diary of Anne Frank (1957), Try for White (1959), The Caretaker (1960), The Night of the Iguana (1962).

He was involved in the Broadway debut of the production of After the Fall and had befriended Miller. He obtained the rights to the play and produced it, with Leon Gluckman, just months after its Broadway premiere, in Wits University Great Hall Johannesburg as part of the Johannesburg Festival and Luxurama Theatre, Cape Town (Cockpit Players) in 1964 for multi-racial audiences. This was the last play directed by Leonard Schach prior to settling in Israel. Schach directed four more productions of After the Fall: In Israel, Brussels, London and again in South Africa in 1981 when it was PACT’s opening production in the Pretoria State Theatre.

His theatre companies

National Theatre Organization

In 1947–48 he undertook a world survey of national subsidized theatre on behalf of the South African Department of Adult Education, contributing to the establishment of the National Theatre Organization (NTO) in 1948. He directed Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, Volpone, Twelve Night the last was later done for PACT in Afrikaans with Uys Krige as translator, Anouilh's Antigone and Chekhov's Anniversary.

Schach soon moved into production, creating a company called the Cockpit Players in 1950-. Later this was renamed Leonard Schach Productions (1951-). After his move to Israel, he set up the Company of Four with South African colleagues René Ahrenson, Cecilia Sonnenberg and Donald Inskip (1977-1986) to produce work in the country. Much of his directing work was done for these companies, though he also worked extensively with NTO and later the Performing Arts Councils as well.

Work at the Little Theatre

The Performing Arts Councils

His South African productions

While in the South African Navy, Schach directed Leon Gluckman and Cecil Williams in The Middle Watch at the Little Theatre in 1944.

He staged Tennessee Williams's The Glass Menagerie at the University of Cape Town’s Little Theatre in 1948. The cast included Rosalie van der Gucht and Rosemary Jean Kirkcaldy. He once again directed this play in 1949, during his stint as Acting Controller of the Little Theatre, for the National Theatre starring Anna Romain Hoffman and Nita Economides.

He staged Bridget Boland’s Cockpit at the Little Theatre in 1949, and after its monumental success, formed a professional company, the Cockpit Players, who made Hofmeyr Theatre their home.

He directed The Heiress, a Brian Brooke production for ACT’s touring circuit of 1949.

He directed the Ben Jonson satire Volpone for the National Theatre at the Reps Theatre in 1952, Lorca’s Spanish drama The House of Bernarda Alba for the Johannesburg Reps in September 1952, The Madwoman of Chaillot for the Johannesburg Reps to celebrate the first birthday of their theatre in 1952. He directed his favourite Shakespeare, Twelfth Night two times for the National Theatre in 1953, once in English and once in Afrikaans. He also directed this play for the Theatre Royal du Parc in Brussels in 1953.

He returned to Johannesburg to direct the Johannesburg Reps production of The Young Elizabeth, based on the life of Elizabeth I to mark the coronation of Elizabeth II later that same year. The cast included the aspiring writer Theo Aronson.

Schach’s National Theatre production of The Firstborn in 1954 saw Leon Gluckman in the lead.

Webster Booth and his wife Anne Ziegler starred in Spring Quartet for Leonard Schach in Cape Town in September 1956.

He directed Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot in 1955 in Cape Town and then collaborated with Leon Gluckman and Taubie Kushlick as co-producers to stage it once again, this time at the Technical College Hall in 1956, starring Alec Bell, Gerrit Wessels and Gavin Haughton. Joss Ackland played leads for Leonard Schach’s Cockpit Players before returning to England.

He directed Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge for the Reps starring the Irish actor Niall MacGinnis and Durban actor, Louis Burke, making his first stage appearance in Johannesburg in 1957, The Diary of Anne Frank in Cape Town in 1957.

The National Theatre presented his production of Summer of the Seventeenth Doll at the Johannesburg Reps at the end of 1957. It was written by the Australian Ray Lawler, and starred Marjorie Gordon.

Leon Gluckman returned to the Johannesburg stage in January 1958 in Schach’s production of the American play, Career, at the Reps.

Schach’s Cockpit Players embarked on a lengthy Johannesburg run of four of their recent Cape Town successes in 1959. The first production was Long Day's Journey into Night starring Leon Gluckman. Next, Basil Warner’s Try for White opened at the Pretoria Opera House before moving to the Intimate Theatre for the remainder of their highly successful run. Leon Gluckman and John McKelvey went straight into Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee’s prizewinning play Inherit the Wind, for which Leonard hired the Brooke Theatre. The fourth Cockpit Players production was Thornton Wilder’s lively period-New York comedy, The Matchmaker. This enduring show became the musical Hello, Dolly!.

David Beattie made his final appearance for Leonard’s satirical revue, Beyond the Fringe.

He was a guest director at The Barn Theatre in the 1960’s.

His production of A Majority of One starring Sarah Sylvia and Frank Wise opened in January 1960. He directed Brendan Behan’s play The Hostage which was staged at the Intimate Theatre in 1960. Yet the YMCA committee for the Intimate refused permission to stage his Lock Up Your Daughters.

His production of The Aspern Papers ran at the Playhouse (Cape Town) after their season at the Hofmeyr Theatre in 1960. Michael Redgrave’s adaptation of this Henry James story saw the British actress Flora Robson in the lead opposite Canadian actor Robert Beatty.

In December 1960 Schach announced he had signed a two-year lease with the Playhouse in Cape Town. His Cockpit Players maintained a high standard at the Playhouse in 1961 with Harold Pinter’s The Caretaker with Siegfried Mynhardt, Michael McGovern and Nigel Hawthorne, and Paddy Chayefsky’s prizewinning The Tenth Man, starring the same actors.

His Cockpit Players did William Gibson’s The Miracle Worker at the Playhouse in 1961, starring Reinet Maasdorp and Fiona Fraser.

His musical revue called Something New, with John Boulter and British comedienne Beryl Reid opened in Cape Town in December 1961, before going to Johannesburg early in 1962.

He directed Harold Pinter’s The Birthday Party, followed by Tennessee Williams's The Night of the Iguana which was staged at the Playhouse by the Cockpit Players in 1962. In his company of actors for these plays were Siegfried Mynhardt, Michael McGovern, Margaret Inglis, Marjorie Gordon, Diane Wilson and Kerry Jordan.

He left the country after his 1964 production of After the Fall because of restrictions placed on his work by the apartheid system. He settled in Israel, but returned frequently as a guest director. He came back to direct Shaw’s Heartbreak House for PACT at the Alexander Theatre in 1967, Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead for a Johannesburg Reps-PACT collaboration production in 1967, Aleksei Arbuzov’s The Promise, A Month in the Country, for PACT at the Alexander Theatre in 1969, Lang Dagreis na die Nag in 1970.

PACT presented two of his productions in 1971: the Paul Zindel play The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-moon Marigolds, starring Marjorie Gordon and Janice Honeyman; and In the Case of J. Robert Oppenheimer starring John Hayter.

In 1965, he directed the opera Prodaná nevěsta for CAPAB, and in 1972, Don Giovanni for PACT.

He directed Kennedy's Children for The Company (1975), the Pieter Toerien production of Peter Shaffer’s Equus (1975), Comedians at The Market Theatre in December 1976. His production of Comedians was one of the opening productions in the Market Theatre. It attracted a lot of attention from the censorship board.

He subsequently directed a number of other plays for various managements in South Africa. His production of an Afrikaans version of The Diary of Anne Frank with Elise Hibbert was staged by PACT at the Alexander Theatre in 1977. He directed Die Wonderwerk (1978), Golda (1978), 'n Maand op die Platteland (1979), Da (1979), Macbeth (1980), The Royal Hunt of the Sun (1981), The Dresser (1980). It was also staged at the Market Theatre in 1982 before enjoying a successful run in Israel.

He directed 84 Charing Cross Road at the Market Theatre in April 1982, Beecham (1984), A Walk in the Woods (1989), A Walk in the Woods (1990).

His Baxter Theatre production of Beecham was staged at the Civic’s Youth Theatre in Johannesburg in 1993.

In 1994 Yours Anne opened in Cape Town. This was to be Leonard's last new production in South Africa before his death.

The Israeli period 1965-1996

He moved to Israel in 1965 where he directed many productions for the Cameri Theatre in Tel Aviv. In addition he directed for Habimah, the Haifa Municipal Theater, Zavit, Bimot, Giora Godick Productions, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and the Israel Chamber Ensemble Orchestra.

He also directed plays and operas in England, the United States, Italy, and Belgium, and made the film Cry in the Wind in Greece.

Other activities

Leonard organised a three-month tour where theatre enthusiasts could view the famous theatres, opera houses and concert halls of Britain and Europe in 1951.

He was the South African representative of the International Theatre Institure (ITI).

He attended the first meeting of the South African Association of Theatrical Managements, established early 1956.

On occasion acted as adjudicator for the FATSSA Play Festival.

Writings by and about Schach

An early biography by Donald Inskip (Stage by Stage: The Leonard Schach Story. Cape Town: Howard Timmins, 1977) provides much early material, while his own autobiography (The Flag is Flying, published by Human and Rousseau, 1996) is a fact filled survey of the history of twentieth century South African theatre from a subjective, personal perspective.

Awards and honours

Schach was the recipient of many awards, including the 1960 Cape Tercentenarian Award of Merit (1960), the Queen of England's Coronation Medal for services to the English theatre (1953), the Drama Critics of Brussels award (for After the Fall, 1966), Israel's David's Harp award for best director of the year (Birthday Party, 1968), and the Breytenbach Award of South Africa for best director of the year for his production of Equus (1976). He has also been granted the Freedom of the City of Cape Town for his theatrical activity.

In 1989 he received the Fleur due Cap Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to the industry.

He founded the The Leonard Schach Fund for Theatre Productions - South Africa and Israel.

Sources

Louis Isaac Rabinowitz "Schach, Leonard Lazarus" in Encyclopaedia Judaica (© 2008 The Gale Group)[1]

Inskip, Donald P., 1977.

Schach, 1996.

Tucker, 1997.

Virtual Library [2]

Alexandra Xenia Sabina Mossolow[3]. 2003. The career of South African soprano Nellie du Toit, born 1929. Unpublished Masters thesis. University of Stellenbosch.[4]

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Return to ESAT Personalities S

Return to South African Theatre Personalities

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