Commercial Exchange

The Commercial Exchange is a name often given to a building dedicated to commerce and business transactions.

Also referred to as the Commercial Rooms in some cases, or the Die Beurs (lit "purse", i.e. "The stockmarket" or "commercial exchange") in Afrikaans.

The Commercial Exchange, Cape Town

The Commercial Exchange in Cape Town was founded in 1819, and built on the site later occupied by the Grand Parade. The foundation stone of the building was laid by the governor Sir Charles Somerset. It was demolished 1893 to make way for the Post Office building in 1895. In Dutch and Afrikaans the venue is sometimes found as "die Beurssaal".

Its halls (rooms) were often used for theatrical and musical presentations. and it eventually became the site of/venue for?? the Opera House (189*-19**).

Performances

Among those who used the Commercial Exchange (or Commercial Rooms) as a venue over the years are Mr T.P. Hill (1846 and 1849), Mrs Greig (1851 and 1853), Sefton Parry (who created his Drawing Room Theatre there in 1855), the Harper-Leffler Company (1868), .

Sources

F.C.L. Bosman. 1928. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel I: 1652-1855. Pretoria: J.H. de Bussy. [1]: pp. 428, 440-1,

Timeline of Cape Town, Wikipedia[2]

Photograph, UCT Scholar Resource Discovery, Record no: 000046576[3]

Photograph, UCT Scholar Resource Discovery, Record no: 000046411[4]

Go to the ESAT Bibliography

Return to

Return to South African Theatre Venues, Companies, Societies, etc

Return to The ESAT Entries

Return to Main Page