Dave Ellinger

Dave Ellinger is a salesman, photographer and set designer.

Biography

Born in Bulawayo, Rhodesia, where he attended high school at Hamilton High School from 1961 to 1966, then he moved to Cape Town in 1968 and in 1969 began studying Pharmacy at the Cape Town Technical College.

Between 1970 and 1975 he worked as a freelance photographer with many amateur dramatic societies in the Cape Town area, supplying supplied hundreds of front-of-house enlargements for foyer display and for press publicity.

From 2001 till 2014 he worked as a salesman and photographer for the Whysalls Pty Ltd., an electronics store in Umhlanga, KwaZulu-Natal.

Contribution to South African theatre, film, media and performance

In his period as freelance photographer in Cape Town, his clients included many amateur dramatic societies in the Cape Town area, for whom he produced hundreds of front-of-house enlargements for foyer display and for press publicity purposes, as well as creating sets for some shows.

The list of shows photographed in that period include:

For the Masque Theatre in Muizenberg:

The Changing Room (directed by Tony Mitchell), The Diary of Anne Frank (directed by Hymie Shapiro); Twelve Angry Men (directed by Tony Mitchell); To Dorothy, A Son (directed by Marcia Lawton); The Miracle Worker (directed by Roy Grant); Thunder Rock (directed by Tony Mitchell); Liola (directed by Pietro Nolte); Sailor Beware (directed by Elliot Playfair); Best of Friends (directed by Douglas Green); Chin-Chin (directed by Roy Grant); Private Lives (directed by Sol Rodsell; My Giddy Aunt (directed by Norman Sargeant); A Sense of Guilt (directed by Douglas Green) and The Man (directed by Douglas Green).

He also did the stage set for Thunder Rock for the Masque Theatre.

For The Sons Of England:

The Captives (directed by Douglas Green, Oct 1973); Caught Napping (directed by Peter Pickering, 1973); The Chalk Garden (directed by Jill Cooke, 1973); Doctor in the House (directed by Hymie Shapiro, April 1974); and Mary Stuart (directed by Fitz Morley, August 1974). Also responsible for the stage set for The Captives,

For the Little Theatre, Cape Town:

Voyage Round My Father (directed by Robert Mohr); The Hollow Crown (directed by Colin Pinney); Indians (directed by Mavis Taylor); Offending the Audience (directed by Robert Mohr) and Vices – A Comedy Of Sins (directed by Gisela Taeger-Berger).

For other companies and venues:

Gaslight (directed by Sol Rodsell, performed at the Temple Theatre).

A Man About the House (directed by Joyce Williams for the Strolling Players).

Separate Tables (directed by Roy Grant for the Strolling Players).

Towards Zero (directed by Dawn McClurg for the Savio Players).

The Laboratory (directed by Tony Murray for the Pinelands Dramatic Society).

The Lark (directed by Natasha Baker for Rustenberg Girls High School).

Blithe Spirit (directed by Aubrey Dwyer for the Cape Protea Players).

Intent to Murder (directed by Douglas Green for the Anchor Players).

Duet for Two Hands (directed by Norman Paul) and Lo And Behold (directed by Barbara McGuire), both for the Fish Hoek Dramatic Society.

Sources

E-mail correspondence from Dave Ellinger, January 2022.

https://www.facebook.com/dave.ellinger.5/about?section=year-overviews