Maynardville Open-air Theatre

An open air theatre in Wynberg, Cape Town, devoted to productions of Shakespeare. Also referred to simply as Maynardville.

The Theatre

The Maynardville Open-air Theatre is situated in Maynardville Park, Wynberg. The spectacular green wooded park has earned it the repution for is one of the best-loved outdoor theatre venues in the Cape Region. It offers its patrons both a 500m2 wooded park for pre-show picnics and drinks, as well as a unique wooded 720-seater theatre setting. Most famous for the annual Shakespeare-in-the-Park, it has, over the last 50 years attracted an average attendance of 20 000 patrons per year, a strong focus of which is the Schools in the Western Cape. The Shakespeare sees up to 8000 scholars grade 9 to 12 from as far afield as Heidelberg.

The History

In the mid 1950's, Cecilia Sonnenberg and René Ahrenson were well-known South African actresses and they conceived the idea that the then little-used park in Wynberg would make an ideal open air theatre. Through her husband Cecilia had contacts in the Cape Town City Council. She and René eventually bullied the councillors into creating a stage and raked auditorium for them to mount a production of The Taming of the Shrew. By a happy accident they had met Leslie French in England (Cecilia had acted with him in Regent's Park) and persuaded him to come to Cape Town to direct and act in the play. He was a celebrated stage and film actor who had started as a boy in the Ben Greet Players and had gone on to star in Lillian Bayliss' Old Vic productions and was famous for his performances in the open air theatre in Regent's Park in London. Just before he was due to board the mail-boat for Cape Town, Leslie received a telegram from Cecelia and Rene telling him not to come because they had "cold feet". Leslie's response was typical. He sent a cable back: "Buy hot water bottles, I'm coming out". That first production at Maynardville in 1956 of The Taming of the Shrew ran to packed houses for a month and thus started a legend.

In a period when it was not easy, the cast and audiences were always multi racial. Many people who are now leading lights in SA theatre started out or enhanced their careers in those early productions; Roy Sargeant, Ralph Lawson, Michael McGovern, John Whiteley and Lyn Hooker, to name but a few. They also lured many overseas actors to Maynardville, some of whom, like Michael Atkinson and Keith Grenville, settled here and have enriched the South African theatre ever since.

From the very outset there were special concessions for block bookings of school children. Often the play chosen was one of the exam set works. Thanks to the Maynardville Open-Air Theatre, hundreds of thousands of Cape school children have experienced their first taste of Shakespeare as it should be; as a live performance on stage. Generations of boys and girls discovered they could understand the Elizabethan language and found that the 400 year old plays could be as fresh and absorbing as any contemporary drama.

In 1975 Cecilia and René joined hands with CAPAB in joint management of Maynardville for the next five years. After their retirement from Maynardville, on the occasion of the 25th year of production, Romeo and Juliet, the CAPAB Drama department kept the flame alive. For 17 years they brought guest actors to Maynardville and together with the core company mounted a further 18 productions in this time. When the Drama Department closed in the mid 90's there was still a commitment to ensuring the continuance of the Shakespeare-in-the-Park. The Maynardville Theatre Trust was established with Cecilia Sonnenberg as patron to give guidance and strategic support for Maynardville.

Today the Maynardville Theatre Trust, together with Artscape, continues to carry the banner of Classical Theatre and Dance at the Maynardville Open-Air Theatre.

Productions

Othello in 1982 (with Robert Stephens in the title role)

Romeo and Juliet in 1987 (with Embeth Davidtz)

Maynardville performance chronology (1950 to 2015):

   1950 Les Sylphides, St Valentine's Night, Les Diversions (ballet) 
   1951 Les Sylphides, St Valentine's Night, Amor Eterno (ballet) 
   1952 Le Lac de Cygnes (2nd Act), Giselle (ballet) 
   1954 Don Quixote (pas de deux), Carnaval (ballet) 
   1956 The Taming of the Shrew (play) 
   1957 A Midsummer Night's Dream (play) 
   1958 As You Like It (play) 
   1958 The Firebird, Les Patineurs, Beauty and the Beast (ballet) 
   1959 The Winter's Tale (play) 
   1960 The Tempest (play) 
   1961 The Nutcracker, Blood Wedding (ballet) 
   1961 Twelfth Night (play) 
   1962 Much Ado About Nothing (play) 
   1962 The Sleeping Beauty (ballet) 
   1963 Petrushka (ballet) 
   1963 The Merchant of Venice (play) 
   1964 A Midsummer Night's Dream (play) 
   1964 Hamlet (play) 
   1965 Giselle (ballet) 
   1965 The Taming of the Shrew (play) 
   1966 King Lear (play) 
   1967 Le Tricorne, The Lady and the Fool (ballet) 
   1967 Macbeth (play) 
   1968 Richard II (play) 
   1968 Swan Lake (ballet) 
   1969 Les Deux Pigeons (ballet) 
   1969 The Merry Wives of Windsor (play) 
   1970 Othello (play) 
   1971 Coppélia Suite, A Midsummer Night's Dream (ballet) 
   1971 The Winter's Tale (play) 
   1972 Anthony and Cleopatra (play) 
   1972 Sylvia (Act 3), Verklärte Nacht, Peter and the Wolf (ballet) 
   1973 Giselle (ballet) 
   1973 The Tempest (play) 
   1974 Flower Festival in Genzano, The Firebird (ballet) 
   1974 Umabatha (play) 
   1975 Hamlet (play) 
   1976 Julius Caesar (play) 
   1977 Much Ado About Nothing (play) 
   1978 Twelfth Night (play) 
   1979 The Merchant of Venice (play) 
   1980 Romeo and Juliet (play) 
   1981 A Midsummer Night's Dream (play) 
   1982 Othello (play) 
   1983 The Tempest (play) 
   1984 The Taming of the Shrew (play) 
   1985 As You Like It (play) 
   1987 Comedy of Errors (play) 
   1987 Measure for Measure (play) 
   1988 Romeo & Juliet (play) 
   1989 Twelfth Night (play) 
   1990 Much Ado About Nothing (play) 
   1991 Loves Labours Lost (play) 
   1992 The Merchant of Venice (play) 
   1993 Two Gentlemen of Verona (play) 
   1994 The Tempest (play) 
   1995 A Midsummer Night's Dream (play) 
   1996 The Taming of The Shrew (play) 
   1997 The Winter's Tale (play) 
   1998 Twelfth Night (play) 
   1999 As You Like It (play) 
   2000 Romeo & Juliet (play) 
   2001 Othello (play) 
   2002 A Midsummer Night's Dream (play) 
   2002 Giselle (ballet) 
   2003 La Sylphide (ballet) 
   2003 Two Gentlemen of Verona (play) 
   2004 Le Tricorne, The Lady and the Fool (ballet) 
   2004 Macbeth (play) 
   2005 Much Ado about Nothing (play) 
   2005 Swan Lake (Act 2) (ballet) 
   2006 Carmen (ballet) 
   2006 Twelfth Night (play) 
   2007 Ballets al Fresco (ballet) 
   2007 Romeo & Juliet (play) 
   2008 Giselle (ballet) 
   2008 The Merchant of Venice (play) 
   2009 As You Like It (play) 
   2009 La Sylphide (ballet) 
   2010 Anthony and Cleopatra (play) 
   2010 Les Sylphides, The Firebird (ballet) 
   2011 Night and Day (ballet) 
   2011 The Taming of The Shrew (play) 
   2012 Solitaire, Graduation Ball (ballet) 
   2012 The Comedy of Errors (play) 
   2013 A Midsummer Night's Dream (play) 
   2013 Giselle (ballet) 
   2014 The Firebird (ballet) 
   2014 The Tragedy of King Richard III (play) 
   2015 La Sylphide (ballet) 
   2015 Othello (play)