Port Elizabeth Dramatic Society
The Port Elizabeth Dramatic Society (also known as the Amateur Theatrical Society Port Elizabeth), is the first documented amateur dramatic society in Port Elizabeth, apparently founded in the early forties (according to Fletcher, 1994), though other reports suggest later, perhaps 1853.
The town was first founded in 1820, and though theatrical productions seem to have taken place earlier since at least the mid-1830s, with performances taking place in the first productions actually named date from 1853, when the town completed there own venue, the new Port Elizabeth Theatre or also called The Lyceum (referred to as the Lycean Theatre by F.C.L. Bosman, 1928: p. 508, citing from an article The Cape Monitor of 24 September 1856).
The Society continued productions up to 1858 (though P.J. du Toit says 1856). The Lyceum was sold in 1858 and the Society was temporarily dissolved. In the 1860s a new company, called the Port Elizabeth Dramatic Club, became active in the town.
Their performances
1853: The newly established Port Elizabeth Dramatic Society opened there on 26 August with She Stoops to Conquer (Goldsmith) and Did you ever send your wife to Camberwell? (Coyne), playing two nights.
1853: On 22 October they did selections of Shakespeare’s Henry IV, followed by The Spare Bed (Fox Cooper), An Unwarrantable Intrusion ( Morton).
1854: Performed the The Road to Ruin (Holcroft), and The Thumping Legacy (Morton) on 7 July.
1855: Performed The Rivals (Sheridan) in the new Port Elizabeth Theatre in August, with The Fast Train (Anon.), assisted by the Port Elizabeth Amateur Musical Society.
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Sources
F.C.L. Bosman. 1928. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel I: 1652-1855. Pretoria: J.H. de Bussy. [1]: pp. 421, 508
"Port Elizabeth Theatre", in The Cape Monitor, 10 September, 1853, 8 August, 1855 and 24 September 1856.
P.J. du Toit. 1988. Amateurtoneel in Suid-Afrika. Pretoria: Academica
Jill Fletcher. 1994. The Story of Theatre in South Africa: A Guide to its History from 1780-1930. Cape Town: Vlaeberg: pp79-80.
P.W. Laidler. 1926. The Annals of the Cape Stage. Edinburgh: William Bryce: p.
J.J. Redgrave. 1947. Port Elizabeth in Bygone Days. Wynberg: Rustica Press.
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