Des and Dawn

Des and Dawn is the name under which the couple Des Lindberg and Dawn Lindberg originally performed as singers.

The name soon caught on and became a general way of referring to the influential theatrical couple, who went on to become a very successful production company, doing theatre, musicals, industrial theatre and sound recording. They themselves used the name Des and Dawn Lindberg on posters and and programmes at one time, while some writers also refer to them simply as The Lindbergs.

This entry focuses on their joint work:

• Des and Dawn
• Folk on Trek Productions
• The Soirée Society
• CAT Productions

For biographical and personal career information, see the individual entries under Des Lindberg and Dawn Lindberg.

Des and Dawn: Singers and performers

They started out as the singing duo Des and Dawn in the 1960s, travelling the country and specializing in folk music in both English and Afrikaans. From 1965, they travelled for three years with their show Folk on Trek.

Folk on Trek Productions

From there they developed the company Folk on Trek Productions to manage their shows. Based in Johannesburg it became the base from which they gradually moved on to cabaret and, in the 1970s, their larger TV shows and theatre productions. The Soirée Society also grew out of this activity.

The Soirée Society

Focused on experimental as well as intimate theatre, this was the banner under which they held regular musical Soirées at the Lindberg home in Houghton.

CAT Productions

In the 1980s their work had become very diverse and they registered a theatrical company called Cabaret and Theatre Productions, but better known as CAT Productions (sometimes listed as C.A.T. Productions), to manage their many projects.

CAT Productions put in a very competitive tender for the theatre that was to be built in the old Newtown produce market, but lost to Mannie Manim and Barney Simon, who then went on to found the Market Theatre.

They put on a range of musical works in the 1970s and 1980s, including their highly controversial yet successful tour of Godspell (1973), put on at non-theatrical venues such as the Christian Brother’s Colleges’ school halls, in order to circumvent the censorship system and ignore the ire of the more traditional church leaders. They also formed a club called the South African Living Theatre (SALT) to get around the governments opposition to their multi-racial company. By the 1990s, they also moved into the lucrative field known as industrial theatre.

Some of the productions they staged include:

1973: Godspell

1974: Godspell

1975: Pippin, The Shrew, Godspell

1976: The Black Mikado

1977: Godspell

1979: The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, The Importance of Being Irish, Back in Town

1980: The Shrew, I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking it on the Road

1981: Lennon, I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking it on the Road, a guitar festival called Guitars from Africa at the Civic Theatre

1982: Lennon

1983: I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking it on the Road

1985: Godspell (with PACT)

1986: A... My Name Is Alice

1987: When I Was a Girl I Used to Scream and Shout

1988: King Afrika (with PACT)

1994: Godspell (with the Civic)

1998: Popcorn

1999: Popcorn

2000: Wanna Be Gonna Be, Sex, Tango and Everything Else

2001: Sex, Tango and Everything Else

2002: The Vagina Monologues

2003: The Vagina Monologues

2005: Des & Dawn Still Truckin', Unicorns, Spiders & Dragon's Tales

2006: Des & Dawn Still Truckin', Unicorns, Spiders & Dragon's Tales

2007: The Good Body

Sources

http://www.desdawn.co.za/index.html

http://www.desdawn.co.za/

Mona Vida de Beer 1995. Revised ed. Who Did What in South Africa. Johannesburg: Ad Donker.

Peter Joyce. 1999. A Concise Dictionary of South African Biography. Cape Town: Francolin Publishers.

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

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