Harrington Street Theatre
The Harrington Street Theatre was a wooden venue built by Sefton Parry in 1857.
The theatre had a number of names over the years, such as The Theatre (in Harrington Street) ” and the Cape Town Theatre (in adverts at least), and later renamed the Theatre Royal. It was however popularly referred to as “the Harrington Street Theatre” in most cases.
It was a small, custom built and temporary, theatre of wood, constructed on a rented property in Harrington Street for Parry by Francis Dodds, machinery installed by Mr Stratford, gas fixtures by Mr Stanley, and upholstery by Mr Severn.
The theatre opened on 14 September 1857 with a performance of A Kiss in the Dark (Morton), the operetta Why don't She Marry? (Bayley) and A Thumping Legacy! (Morton). For the opening night new scenery was installed for the opening by Messrs Groom and Smith, the wardrobe "by Cantor of London and Walker of New York" and the orchestra under the direction of Mr Holt. A new drop-curtain was painted for the performances by Mr Smith.
later used by J.H. le Roy and the Le Roy and Duret Company.
Pantomime by Sefton Parry, 1857. **
Also for a time
The last production put on in the theatre, before it burned down on in January, was a performance of Hamlet]] by the Le Roy and Duret company (played on 16 January, 1868).
Sources
F.C.L. Bosman. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1916. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: pp. 55-57.
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