Klein Libertas-teater

Klein Libertas-teater (“Little Libertas Theatre”) Stellenbosch.

The building

The Libertas Theatre Club was founded on 5 April 1960 in Stellenbosch, to provide theatre lovers of Stellenbosch with a club where they could satisfy their love for the performing arts and play an active rol in the development of the community. Local theatre lovers had dreamed of such a club for a very long time. The Libertas Theatre Club, as it was named, had it’s head office in the old wine cellar on the farm Vredelust in Dorp Street. (Later the well known De Kelder Restaurant opened at Vredelust.) In 1967, on the sale of the Vredelust farm, the club moved to the old stables on the Bergzicht grounds where it is still situated today.

The munisipality agreed to let the old delapidated building on the Bergzicht market square to them and to fix it up to some extent. At the time the fire-brigade were using it.

The name was changed to Klein Libertas-teater or Little Libertas Theatre to distinguish it from the Oude Libertas Theatre which had been constructed by Distell. In 199* it was briefly altered to serve as an art movie house by the owners of the Labia Theatre in Cape Town. When the venture failed, the theatre retained the seats, but reverted to being a performance space for live theatre, being rented to professional companies and performers, as well as local amateurs and the University of Stellenbosch Drama Department as the H.B. Thom Theatre became too small to house all the productions created by student writers and directors. Gradually a foyer was added and for many years the original stable door still separated the foyer from the intimate auditorium with its thick walls. In 2009 this was removed to create a much larger space. An outdoor stage for music and other outdooer events has since also been added.

Management

The Libertas Theatre Club was an amateur group and for many years the building was run by the LTC executive, with the help of Emile Aucamp, Valentyn ** and student technicians from the University Drama Department.

In 199* the LTC created a multiple structure, including a professional section (letting the theatre to professionals), an amateur section (the Libertas Theatre Club) and an outreach project in the community and on farms.

In 1998(?) a paid manager was appointed, the first being Francois Toerien. In 2000 he was succeeded by Maryn Fourie?*, she in turn by Kabous Meiring for a brief while in 2002, before GiGi Fourie took over in the same year.

As the political structures in the country changed and the arts councils fell away, artists started creating their own work and needed venues to perform. The Klein Libertas Theatre answered perfectly to this need and is therefore now not only used by amateurs and upcoming artists but more and more by professionals as well.

Productions

Initially the theatre basically allowed the amateurs to do annual productions, though some of those productions were of new South African work of some significance. So, until 1994 the Libertas Theatre was exclusively an amateur club.

However, as the political structures in the country changed and the arts councils fell away, artists started creating their own work and needed venues to perform. The Klein Libertas Theatre answered perfectly to this need and thus was being used not only by amateurs and but more and more by upcoming artists and increasingly, seasoned professionals as well. Thus it began to function as a venue and even catalyst for Community theatre (such as the Pretty Ladies project), Children's and Youth theatre and Professional theatre as well.

In 2009 the Klein Libertas Theatre also registered as a professional production house – doing productions such as Want, kyk die bruidegom is hier and Hugo Claus's Pas de Deux, followed by **.

For more information

See also Libertas Teaterklub

Return to

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

Return to The ESAT Entries

Return to Main Page