National Theatre Organisation

The National Theatre Organisation (In Afrikaans: Nasionale Toneelorganisasie, but perhaps best known by its acronym: NTO) was a state funded organization founded to promote and produce theatre in Afrikaans and English in South Africa. (In reality this more or less implied "among white audiences" at that time.)

BEING EDITED

History

Pre-history

National Theatre Organization: It was a sub-committee of the National Council for Adult Education under the direction of Dr G.W Eybers. P.P.B Breytenbach was the first director. Its members were Steve Naude (secretary), Anna Neethling-Pohl, Major Myles Bourke and Professor Donald Inskip of the University of Cape Town's Little Theatre. Aimed at providing the best possible theatre, venues and training. Mr J.H. Hofmeyer allocated money through the Federation of Amateur Theatrical Societies of Southern Africa (FATSSA), and then Breytenbach's committee became the NTO Board of Control. André Huguenet was the Company Manager in the early days.

Founding and early days

In April 1947 an ambitious proposal for a sponsorship for all the performing art forms, based on an outline by Myles Bourke, was submitted to the National Council for Adult Education , then under the direction of Dr G.W. Eybers, by a sub-committee of the Council dedicated to theatre matters. This committee had been established and was chaired by council member P.P.B. Breytenbach, who at the time was also the president of the Federation of Amateur Theatrical Societies of South Africa (FATSSA). The committee members included Myles Bourke, Anna Neethling-Pohl, Donald Inskip and Steve Naudé (secretary).

In response the minister of Education, J.H. Hofmeyr, allocated £400 (plus a loan of £3 600) to the Federation of Amateur Theatrical Societies of South Africa (FATSSA) , to organise bilingual tours of theatre only in 1948, as a preliminary experiment. The founding of the new company was officially announced on 21 June 1947. There was an outcry from the professional fraternity at the allocation to FATSSA, refusing to be "organized" by amateurs, thus the original idea was scrapped and so the sub-committee, chaired by Breytenbach, was enhanced by the addition of two professionals, Leontine Sagan and André Huguenet. This committee became a mediatory body and later the controlling body of NTO.

Actual work on productions started with the artistic advisors (Sagan, Neethling-Pohl and Huguenet), going on a national tour in late 1947 to muster support and audition potential performers.

The administrative structure

The directorate met for the first time in Johannesburg on 7 July 1947 and gradually Breytenbach, Inskip and Bourke took over the day to day running of the organisation. In 1948 the board was enlarged with the addition of more professionals, academics, and representatives from interested parties. Thus Elizabeth Sneddon, Marda Vanne, F.C.L. Bosman, S.H. Pellissier, J.J.P. O'pt Hof (of the Council) and P.J. Theron also became members. In 1952, Breytenbach became its full time Director, and also moved to Pretoria, with F.C.L. Bosman taking over as chairman (1952-1953), followed by Geoff Cronjé (1954-1961).

In 1957 a regional office was also established in the Bellville Civic Theatre, in the Cape. Managed by Laurie van der Merwe, it had its own regional advisory board chaired by W.J. du P. Erlank.

The office and production staff

In 1948 Doris Lancaster became the first formal appointment of NTO, as full-time secretary (initially working with Breytenbach in Krugersdorp, before moving to offices in Pretoria in 1950). In 1952, Breytenbach became NTO's full time Director, and also moved to Pretoria. Over the years the staff complement was to include Michal Grobbelaar (technical advisor, 1955-1962, and from 1958 production manager Afrikaans), Victor Melleney (production manager, English 1958-1962), Frank Graves and Doreen Graves (designers), and the press officers Piet Bezuidenhout (Pretoria), Nellie Kruger (Johannesburg) and Muriel Kavanagh (Cape Town).

Artistic staff

Among the directors who worked for NTO on a contract basis were Leontine Sagan , Gwen ffrançon-Davies, André Huguenet, Anna Neethling-Pohl, Truida Pohl, Marda Vanne, Leonard Schach, Leon Gluckman, Clifford Williams, Johan de Meester, John Hussey, Margaret Inglis, Victor Melleney, Taubie Kushlick, Margaret Webster, Tone Brulin, Richard Daneel and many others.

Actors include

Funding

The funding also changed as they got under way, the initial loan being waived and becoming a straight grant of £10 000 in 1948 and £15 000 in 1949. By 1957 £10 000 had been added for the development of regional branches. Despite repeated entreaties due to rising costs, the grant of £25 000 remained at that level till the end, with occasional extra allowances of £5 000 for specific purposes.

Offices, theatres and facilities

Starting with offices in Krugersdorp, then temporary offices in Pretoria, before NTO finally purchased the old Marais homestead in Sunnyside, Pretoria, with the intention of ultimately converting it to a national theatre. They moved on in May 1957, and it was officially opened as the head office for NTO on 8 February by Mrs Susan Strydom, wife of the Prime Minister, J.G. Strydom.

The conversion to a theatre never happened and PACT eventually sold the building to a consortium to build the Marais Centre, a shopping mall.

In 1955 NTO also purchased the Harmony Hall in President street with a grant from the city council. The hall was converted to an experimental venue, the NTO Kamertoneel, in 1958-9, and in 1959 (after extensive modifications), became the National Theatre Pretoria, renamed the Breytenbach Theatre in 1967. At the same time the house next door was bought by Breytenbach and donated to NTO, for use as its offices, wardrobe, and as a training school (the latter another project that never materialised).

Productions

Overview

All in all NTO mounted 103 productions (including children's plays, repetitions and imported and/or sponsored productions) in the period from 1948 to 1962. Of these 25 were of indigenous (Afrikaans or English) plays, a number specifically written for NTO by authors such as Gerhard Beukes, Guy Butler, W.A. de Klerk, D.J. Opperman, N.P. van Wyk Louw, James Ambrose Brown, Bartho Smit, Anthony Delius, Dolf van Niekerk and Harold Laite. Numerous translations of foreign language (and English) plays were also done. Among the many fine directors who worked for them on these productions were Leontine Sagan , Gwen ffrançon-Davies, André Huguenet, Anna Neethling-Pohl, Truida Pohl, Marda Vanne, Leonard Schach, Leon Gluckman, Clifford Williams, Johan de Meester, John Hussey, Margaret Inglis, Victor Melleney, Taubie Kushlick, Margaret Webster, Tone Brulin, Richard Daneel and many others. The final full production by NTO was Eugene O'Neill's A Touch of the Poet in 1961, with three short plays for the youth put on in 1962 by Theatre for Youth.

Specific production initiatives

Within this vast programme a few specific initiatives stand out over the years. For example, NTO did much to foster international exchange, with Hassan going to Britain in 195*, and a number of companies performing locally under their banner. These include the Vlaamse Nasionaal Toneel (1950, 1952), the Hogarth Puppets (1954), John Wright's Marionettes (1956-57), Nederlands Kamertoneel (1959), the Old Vic Company (19**).

Differences in taste between cities and the towns led to artistic advisor Marda Vanne starting a practice of doing "prestige" productions in the cities from time to time (e.g. Macbeth and Hassan in 1950), though this proved largely uneconomical and did not occur often.

The 1952 Van Riebeeck Festival was a year of glory for NTO, with the organization taking control of many of the main celebratory festivities, including the pageant in Cape Town (directed by Anne Neethling-Pohl). Their experimental theatre project, called Kamertoneel (lit. "Room Theatre"), lasted for about two years (1958-59) in Pretoria and Cape Town, but did some of the most interesting work, including new plays by local authors such as N.P.van Wyk Louw, James Ambrose Brown and Bartho Smit, as well as controversial work by visiting director Tone Brulin.

Another highly regarded initiative was the NTO's schools programme. This started with special matinee performances for schools, begun in 1951, and later - with grants from the various education departments - special performances of selected plays at schools throughout the province. Begun in Transvaal in 1954, this was extended to the Cape Province in 1955 and Natal in 1956. In 1958 Jannie Gildenhuys, Cobus Rossouw and Leonora Nel returned from Europe, filled with ideas about educational theatre culled from Joan Littlewood and others, and suggested the formation of a youth company to do exracts from prescribed works in schools. With a grant from the Cape Province, the NTO Youth Theatre came into being in 1959 and toured schools in Cape with a panel van, doing the same in the Transvaal in 1960. In 1961 two companies were formed, later four. (In 1963 most of these performers were absorbed into PACT.)

In 1957 a regional office was also founded in the Bellville Civic Theatre, in the Cape. Managed by Laurie van der Merwe, it had its own regional advisory board and initiated some experimental work as well as the very popular library readings throughout the province. However, regionalization signalled a change in fortunes for NTO, with the Cape gradually seeking to secede from the national body. By 1961 the long-developing split between north and south came to a head and this, coupled with financial difficulties, rebellion by artists against what they perceived as a bureaucratic control of their lives and art, national catastrophes (e.g. the Sharpeville massacre), etc, made the board's position untenable. From 1957 onwards they sought some form of state intervention to clarify matters.

In 1961 the De Bruyn Commission of Inquiry was finally instituted, and sudied the situaion while all new activities were suspended. The report (never published) came as a bombshell, for it recommended the disbanding of NTO and the founding of four provincial Performing Arts Councils. NTO wound up its business and disbanded in June 1962.

In 1963 the new system came into being. (See further Performing Arts Councils, Performing Arts Council of the Transvaal, Performing Arts Council of the Orange Free State, Natal Performing Arts Council and Cape Performing Arts Board. Also South African Committee of Performing Arts Councils (SACPAC). )

Plays produced

The first two productions were Altyd My Liefste (Lessing, directed by Truida Pohl) and Dear Brutus (Barrie, directed by Leontine Sagan), and were rehearsed and launched by the English and Afrikaans companies at the Little Theatre, Cape Town on 2 and 12 February 1948, before being taken tour , with the English and Afrikaans companies travelling together and sharing back-stage responsibilities. They did a second tour in 1948, with Nag het die Wind Gebring (De Klerk) and An Inspector Calls (Priestley). Both tours were well received.

In 1949 and 1950 an experiment was made with a bilingual company, performing a repertory of four plays consecutively. This was not popular and by 1951 the companies had parted company once more, with Afrikaans and English companies touring separately. Extended tours lasted up to one year at a time, with at times up to five companies on the road. The tours often took on dangerous or sometimes farcical dimensions, hampered by long distances, bad roads in the rural areas, lack of suitable venues, etc. However the NTO visits in remote areas were greatly appreciated.

Their inaugural season (1947/1948) was an undoubted success. The Afrikaans company presented Altyd My Liefste, a translation of Lessing’s German classic Minna von Barnhelm, which was directed by Truida Pohl. They presented Nag Het die Wind Gebring, by W.A. de Klerk, directed by Anna Neethling-Pohl. The English company offered J.M. Barrie’s Dear Brutus, directed by Leontine Sagan, and J.B. Priestley’s An Inspector Calls, aslo directed by Leontine Sagan. These productions toured throughout 1948 with a company including André Huguenet, Siegfried Mynhardt, Leon Gluckman, Frank Wise, Lorna Cowell, Vivienne Drummond, Mathilda Hanekom and Enone van den Bergh. Leonard Schach directed The Glass Menagerie in 1949 for the National Theatre starring Anna Romain Hoffman and Nita Economides. Molnar’s The Guardsman, was directed by Leontine Sagan in 1949 for the National Theatre. The National Theatre appointed Marda Vanne as artistic advisor in 1950. Macbeth, in Afrikaans, was directed by Gwen Ffrangçon-Davies in the same year. It was staged at His Majesty’s and starred André Huguenet and Anna Neethling-Pohl. Shaw’s Candida, directed by Marda Vanne, was also staged in 1950. James Elroy Flecker’s Hassan was also staged in 1950, and was directed by Basil Dean. Starring André Huguenet. Leonard Schach directed the Ben Jonson satire Volpone for the National Theatre at the Reps Theatre in 1952. This hit show starred Siegfried Mynhardt, Pieter Geldenhuys, Gerrit Wessels, Edna Jacobson, Frank Wise and Vivienne Drummond. Leonard Schach directed his favourite Shakespeare, Twelfth Night two times for the National Theatre in 1953, once in English and once in Afrikaans. Leon Gluckman directed You Never Can Tell, and Taubie Kushlick directed She Stoops to Conquer for the National Theatre in 1954. The National Theatre staged a celebrity concert in aid of the National Theatre Development Fund at the Reps in 1954. The line-up included André Huguenet, Dawie Couzyn, Margaret Inglis and Taubie Kushlick, and came through the offices of Breytenbach. Show Service became the sole ticket sellers for the National Theatre in 1954. The National Theatre took the Reps for their production of Rattigan’s The Winslow Boy starring Brian Proudfoot and Clifford Williams in 1955. The National Theatre did Shaw’s Candida for their Festival production at the Library in 1956 starring Margaret Inglis in the title role. Their Afrikaans arm staged Dirk Opperman’s Periandros van Korinthe, directed by Anna Neethling-Pohl. and a translation of Ferenc Molnar’s The Play’s the Thing (Gekonkel in die Nag), also directed by Neethling-Pohl, and also staged at the Library for the Festival. The National Theatre presented Leonard Schach’s production of Summer of the Seventeenth Doll at the Reps at the end of 1957. It was written by the Australian Ray Lawler, and starred Marjorie Gordon. Leon Gluckman played the lead in Leonard Schach’s National Theatre. production of The Firstborn in 1954. Margaret Inglis spent eighteen months playing and directing for the National Theatre prior to1958. Leon Gluckman directed the National Theatre hit production of School for Scandal which toured the country in 1958. Gluckman directed Shaw’s Saint Joan for the National in 1959, starring Kita Redelinghuys and Siegfried Mynhardt. They staged Bartho Smit’s Moeder Hanna, a revival of Waiting for Godot, and James Ambrose Brown’s Seven Against the Sun as part of their fifteen production schedule for 1959. They did The Glass Slipper, in conjunction with Children’s Theatre and the Reps for Christmas 1959. It was a musical version of Cinderella, starring Anne Ziegler, Hilda Kriseman and Olive King. Breytie Breytenbach concluded an arrangement with the Reps to lease the Alexander as a Johannesburg home for the National Theatre. This arrangement only lasted one season before the NTO’s disintegration. André Huguenet made his final appearance in The Prisoner for the National at the Alexander in 1961. They presented Eugene O'Neill’s A Touch of the Poet at the Alexander Theatre in 1961. It was directed by the American Margaret Webster, and starred Marda Vanne and Johann Nell. Together with Taubie Kushlick, they brought Marcel Marceau to South Africa in 1962. Irishman Michéal MacLiammoír (born Alfred Willmore) came for Taubie Kushlick and the National Theatre to stage his one-man show about Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Oscar in 1962. TO BE TRANSLATED AND EDITED

See also NTO National Theatre Organization: Tussen Twee Liefdes, 1958, geskryf deur Franse skrywer, Paul Géraldy, (Aimer) vertaal deur NP vW Louw as Hèléne. Leonard Schach doen regie en verander die naam na Tussen Twee Liefdes,.Babs Laker, Johann Nell & Pietro Nolte. (Nell het ook in Rosmerholm (Ibsen) gespeel.) Frank Graves ontwerp dekor, Doreen Graves (kostuums); Germanicus in nuwe skouburg van UP. (Gasregiseur Tone Brulin uit Belgie. Francois Swart, Milla Louw, Pieter Geldenhuys, Aletta Gericke, Pietro Nolte, Dawid v/d Walt, Bet Botha, Francois v Wyk, Billy Pretorius, André Beaumont, M. Adriaan Mocke, Hester Momsen, Collie Fick, Koof Snyman & Laurie v/d Merwe. Michal Grobbelaar (prod. Bestuurder) Laurie v/d Merwe (regie asst) Piet Bezuidenhout (verhoogdirekteur)Germanicus was die 1 e Afr beroepsopvoering i/d skouburg van UP. Frank Graves (dekor) Doreen Graves & Stephan de Villiers het kostuums vir Bellville opvoering ontwerp. Nuwigheid: elektroniese musiek nl. v. Louis de Meester in Belgie geskryf en op Bel. Radio opgeneem. Germanicus ook die 1e amptelike stuk by stadskouburg Bellville. Regie hier: Anna Neethling-Pohl. Kamertoneel in PTA,. Ou Harmoniesaal, 18 November 1958 geopen( Presidentstraat 145, Pta. 200 sitplekke. Eerste opvoering was: Voorlopige Vonnis (Josef van Hoeck), regie Tone Brulin. Vertaal deur W.J. du P. Erlank vertaal uit Vlaams. Siegfried Mynhardt, Johan Malherbe, & Eone v/d Berg. Siegfried & Eone het in die eerste 2 opvoerings wat in 1948 deur die NTO gehou is, gespeel. Kamertoneel in Bellville. Voorlopige vonnis met Pieter Bredenkamp, Joey de Koker & Gerrit Wessels. Seven Against the Sun (James Ambrose Brown), Regie: Victor Melleney. (Arthur Hall, David Herbert & Pietro Nolte ? Nie seker Pta of Bellville nie). Een Bruid in Den Morgen (Hugo Claus), Tone Brulin (regie) In Pta het Pieter Geldenhuys, Wilma Stockenstrom, Laurika Meerkotter, Joan Brink & Dale Swanepoel. In Bellville: Pietro Nolte (reg), Wilma Stockenstrom, Pieter Bredenkamp, Chris Fourie, Joey de Koker & Tossie Lochner. Jan Rabie vertaal uit Vlaams. In Pta: Uncle & the Dukebox, Tone Brulin (regie), met Ivor v Rensburg, Bella Mariani, Ralph Bennitt, Warren Sands, Joycelyn de Bruyn & Tanya Barron. Waiting for Godot, (Becket) Tone Brulin & David Herbert, Gabriel Bayman & Gerrit Wessels. In Bellville: The Chairs (Richard Daneel – Regie), weer The Cave Dwellers (William Saroyan) & Mornings at Seven (Paul Osborn). Mag ek Saamspeel? Marcel Achard vertaal deur Laurie v/d Merwe. Emsie Botha, Piet Bezuidenhout, Richard Daneel, Dale Swanepoel. Tone Brulin (regie). Johanna, die Soldaat van God, (Shaw), Fred Engelen (regie), WEG Louw vertaal. Bellville. Ook The Trial, Kafka, UCT. Moeder Hanna (Bartho Smit )Milla Louw, Jan Bruyns, Lynette Kotze, Siegfried Mynhardt. . Kamertoneel het ook aan 5 dramastudente kans gebied om die hoofstadgehore te vermaak in Pta. Meisies van Vervloe Jare (Barto Smit) is saam met Moeder Hanna opgevoer. In Bellville – Moeder Hanna met: Babs Laker, Leonora Nel, Jan v Zyl, Cobus Rossouw & Matthys du Toit. In Bellville is dit vervang met Die Les (Eugène Ionesco) Robert Mohr (ook regisseur), Esther van Ryswyk, Elma Marais. School for Scandal (Sheridan) Leon Gluckman (Prod), UP, Margaret Inglis, Pieter Geldenhuys, Siegfried Mynhardt, Frank Wise, Joyce Grant, Nigel Hawthorne, Brian Proudfoot, Zoe Randall, David Laughton, Pamela Borain, David Beattie, Robert Del Kyrke, David Herbert, Yvonne Dur & Gerald Schuller. Victor Melleney (Prod. Manager), Frank Graves (set), Doreen Graves (costumes). Kaapland en Tvl het elkeen ‘n Jeugtoneelgroep gevorm en op reis gestuur met oa. Die Bruidskool (Moliere), The Prisoner (Bridget Boland). Nie vir Geleerdes (NP vWyk Louw) In gebruikneming van sy eie Nasionale Skouburg op 28 Junie 1960. NTO het ses dramas instudeer: The Cave Dwellers (William Saroyan), Romeo en Jeanette (Anouillh) Babs Laker & Laurie v/d Merwe, A moon for the Misbegotten (O’Neill) met Alec Bell, Die vonkel in haar oë (Gerhard Beukes), met Elsa Fouche. NTO jeuggroep: Jannie Gildenhuys, Cobus Rossouw, Leonora Nel & Irene Durr. Doen ook Dieselfde Pad (Kootjie v/d Heever).(Die groep het Pret & Plesier uit die Boekrak aangebied vir skole. Hulle het 248 keer opgetree en ‘n herlewing i/d studie van Letterkunde by skole bevorder. Her veroorsaak dat spellesings in bibs bevorder is. Vier dramas wat gedoen was: No exit (Satre), Mage k saamspeel? (Marcel Achard), The Bear (Tjekov), Miss Julie (Strindberg). Samewerking met Universiteite en die Alexander Teater: 1961. NTO jeuggroep: Jannie Gildenhuys, Cobus Rossouw, Leonora Nel & Irene Durr. Doen ook Dieselfde Pad (Kootjie v/d Heever).(Die groep het Pret & Plesier uit die Boekrak aangebied vir skole. Hulle het 248 keer opgetree en ‘n herlewing i/d studie van Letterkunde by skole bevorder. Het veroorsaak dat spellesings in bibs bevorder is. Vier dramas wat gedoen was: No exit (Satre), Mage k saamspeel? (Marcel Achard), The Bear (Tjekov), Miss Julie (Strindberg). Samewerking met Universiteite en die Alexander Teater: 1961. US: Johanna, die Soldaat (Saint Joan – Shaw), in Afr vertaal deur WEG Louw, (Regie).Fred Engelen. UCT: TheTrial (Kafka) NTO & Alexander-teater: The Glass slipper. Met Alex is ooreenkoms gesluit om jaarliks 6 NTO Prod. Op die planke te bring. Ook gesamentlike stukke van moeilike werke, NTO het nou ‘n tuiste in JHB en Alex. Sal sy produksies in die NTO se skouburg in PTA opvoer. The Gay Invalid (Molière) met André Huguenet. Die Alex teater deur die Repertory Players in Jhb gebou met fondse wat hulle ingesamel het deur die jare. Ledetal: 2500. 1960 twee nuwe dramas saam met die Uniefees: Nie vir geleerdes (NP v Wyk Louw) Philip Grobler, Salie Vermaak, Schalk Jacobz & Gerrie Albertse. The Fall van Anthony Delius, met John Boulter, Pietro Nolte. In gebruikneming van sy eie Nasionale Skouburg op 28 Junie 1960. NTO het ses dramas instudeer: The Cave Dwellers (William Saroyan), Romeo en Jeanette (Anouillh) Babs Laker & Laurie v/d Merwe, A moon for the Misbegotten (O’Neill) met Alec Bell, Die vonkel in haar oë (Gerhard Beukes), met Elsa Fouche. NTO jeuggroep: Jannie Gildenhuys, Cobus Rossouw, Leonora Nel & Irene Durr. Doen ook Dieselfde Pad (Kootjie v/d Heever). Die groep het Pret & Plesier uit die Boekrak aangebied vir skole. Hulle het 248 keer opgetree en ‘n herlewing i/d studie van Letterkunde by skole bevorder. Her veroorsaak dat spellesings in bibs bevorder is. Vier dramas wat gedoen was: No exit (Satre), Mage k saamspeel? (Marcel Achard), The Bear (Tjekov), Miss Julie (Strindberg).Samewerking met Universiteite en die Alexander Teater: 1961. US: Johanna, die Soldaat (Saint Joan – Shaw), in Afr vertaal deur WEG Louw, (Regie).Fred Engelen. UCT: TheTrial (Kafka) NTO:Tussen Twee Liefdes, 1958, geskryf deur Franse skrywer, Paul Géraldy, (Aimer) vertaal deur NP vW Louw as Hèléne. Leonard Schach doen regie en verander die naam na Tussen…..Babs Laker, Johann Nell & Pietro Nolte. (Nell he took in Rosmerholm(Ibsen) gespeel.) Frank Graves ontwerp dekor, Doreen Graves(kostuums) Germanicus in nuwe skouburg van UP. (Gasregiseur Tone Brulin uit Belgie. Francois Swart, Milla Louw, Pieter Geldenhuys, Aletta Gericke, Pietro Nolte, Dawid v/d Walt, Bet Botha, Francois v Wyk, Billy Pretorius, André Beaumont, M. Adriaan Mocke, Hester Momsen, Collie Fick, Koof Snyman & Laurie v/d Merwe. Michal Grobbelaar (prod. Bestuurder) Laurie v/d Merwe (regie asst) Piet Bezuidenhout (verhoogdirekteur)Germanicus was die 1 e Afr beroepsopvoering i/d skouburg van UP. Frank Graves (dekor) Doreen Graves & Stephan de Villiers het kostuums vir Bellville opvoering ontwerp. Nuwigheid: elektroniese musiek nl. v. Louis de Meester in Belgie geskryf en op Bel. Radio opgeneem. Germanicus ook die 1e amptelike stuk by stadskouburg Bellville. Regie hier: Anna Neethling-Pohl. Kamertoneel in PTA. Ou Harmoniesaal. 200 sitplekke. Eerste opvoering was: Voorlopige Vonnis (Josef van Hoeck), regie Tone Brulin. Seven Against the Sun (James Ambrose Brown), Regie: Victor Melleney Een Bruid in Den Morgen (Hugo Claus). School for Scandal (Sheridan) Leon Gluckman (Prod), UP, Margaret Inglis, Pieter Geldenhuys, Siegfried Mynhardt, Frank Wise, Joyce Grant, Nigel Hawthorne, Brian Proudfoot, Zoe Randall, David Laughton, Pamela Borain, David Beattie, Robert Del Kyrke, David Herbert, Yvonne Dur & Gerald Schuller. Victor Melleney (Prod. Manager), Frank Graves (set), Doreen Graves (costumes). NTO: Ontstaan in 1947. Maraissentrum – hoofkantore v/d NTO open 8 Feb 1958. Geopen deur mev Susan Strydom eggenote v 1 e Minister. PPB (direkteur) & prof WJ Erlank (lid v/d Beheerraad) & prof G Conje (Voorsitter), Michal Grobbelaar Tegniese adviseur bevorder tot produksiebestuurder van Afr, opvoerings en Victor Melleney vir Eng. Lg is ‘n Brit wat in 1958 hier aangekom het. Baie ondervinding by reeks teaters in London. 1960 twee nuwe dramas saam met die Uniefees: Nie vir geleerdes (NP v Wyk Louw)Philip Grobler, Salie Vermaak, Schalk Jacobz & Gerrie Albertse. The Fall van Anthony Delius, met John Boulter, Pietro Nolte. In gebruikneming van sy eie Nasionale Skouburg op 28 Junie 1960. NTO het ses dramas instudeer: The Cave Dwellers (William Saroyan), Romeo en Jeanette (Anouillh) Babs Laker & Laurie v/d Merwe, A moon for the Misbegotten (O’Neill) met Alec Bell, Die vonkel in haar oë (Gerhard Beukes), met Elsa Fouche. NTO jeuggroep: Jannie Gildenhuys, Cobus Rossouw, Leonora Nel & Irene Durr. Doen ook Dieselfde Pad (Kootjie v/d Heever).(Die groep het Pret & Plesier uit die Boekrak aangebied vir skole. Hulle het 248 keer opgetree en ‘n herlewing i/d studie van Letterkunde by skole bevorder. Her veroorsaak dat spellesings in bibs bevorder is. Vier dramas wat gedoen was: No exit (Satre), Mage k saamspeel? (Marcel Achard), The Bear (Tjekov), Miss Julie (Strindberg).Samewerking met Universiteite en die Alexander Teater: 1961. US: Johanna, die Soldaat (Saint Joan – Shaw), in Afr vertaal deur WEG Louw, (Regie).Fred Engelen. UCT: TheTrial (Kafka)NTO & Alexander-teater: The Glass slipper. Met Alex is ooreenkoms gesluit om jaarliks 6 NTO Prod. Op die planke te bring. Ook gesamentlike stukke van moeilike werke, NTO het nou ‘n tuiste in JHB en Alex. Sal sy produksies in die NTO se skouburg in PTA opvoer. The Gay Invalid (Moliere) met Andre Huguenet. Die Alex teater deur die Repertory Players in Jhb gebou met fondse wat hulle ingesamel het deur die jare. Ledetal: 2500.

NTO Maraissentrum – hoofkantore v/d NTO open 8 Feb 1958. Geopen deur mev Susan Strydom eggenote v 1 e Minister. NTO: Ontstaan in 1947. Maraissentrum – hoofkantore v/d NTO open 8 Feb 1958. Geopen deur mev Susan Strydom eggenote v 1 e Minister. PPB (direkteur) & prof WJ Erlank (lid v/d Beheerraad) & prof G Cronje (Voorsitter), Michal Grobbelaar Tegniese adviseur bevorder tot produksiebestuurder van Afr, opvoerings en Victor Melleney vir Eng. Lg is ‘n Brit wat in 1958 hier aangekom het. Baie ondervinding by reeks teaters in London.

Sources

P.J. du Toit, 1988;

Rinie Stead, 1981[?*];

Rinie Stead, 1985b;

Percy Tucker, 1997. [JH, TH]

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