City Amateur Theatrical Society

City Amateur Theatrical Society was a short-lived amateur company which staged a few productions in the Bree Street Theatre, Cape Town in 1854.

F.C.L. Bosman (1828, p. 427) suggests that the initiative may have been one aspect of the legacy left by the energetic elocutionist and multi-faceted teacher T.P. Hill, since elocution and dramatic reading had become very popular in the period and leading figure in this company, Mr J. Boxer, is specifically mentioned for his skills in this respect.

Plays performed include Hamlet (Act 3), A Race for Dinner (Rodwell), The Secret (Morris), Ion (Talfourd) on 27 July 1854 and The Mendicant (À Beckett), The First Floor (Cobb) and The Secret! (Morris) on 21 August 1854.

Performers include Mr J. Boxer (also named as "Director" in one programme), Mrs Arlington, Mr Ashley.

The company is not mentioned again after 1854.

[JH, TH]

Sources

F.C.L. Bosman, 1928. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel I: 1652-1855. Pretoria: J.H. de Bussy. [1]: pp.423, 426-7, 487, 494,

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