Sand du Plessis Theatre Complex

Sand Du Plessis Theatre Complex

Situated in Markgraaf Street, Bloemfontein. A large multi-purpose theatre facility opened 1 August 1985. Occupying an entire city block, it has two formal spaces and at the time claimed to boast the best back- and front-of-stage facilities in the world.

Both venues and the complex was mainly utilized by PACOFS, for their own and touring productions.

Sand Du Plessis Theatre

The Sand du Plessis Theatre has 964 seats and can be adapted for large productions of drama, musicals, pop concerts, opera, etc. The opening season of the "Sand" was on August 1 1985 with Nabucco (Verdi) and August 17 1985 with The Merchant of Venice (Shakespeare). Sand du Plessis: Theatre in Bloemfontein. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers was a combined performing arts council’s production which was staged here in 1991. NAPAC, CAPAB and PACOFS presented Oklahoma! here in 1993. ****

André Huguenet Theatre

A theatre space in the Sand Du Plessis Theatre Complex named after the iconic Bloemfontein-born Afrikaans/English actor-manager, André Huguenet. The André Huguenet Theatre is a smaller, but fully-fledged 300 seater experimental theatre, adaptable to virtually any configuration of seating/acting area, with both seating blocks and mobile stage completely adjustable. Lighting and sound systems are fully computerized and it can also serve as fully-operative TV studio. Claimed to be the most flexible venue of type in SA at the time. Named after locally born actor legend André Huguenet, it opened in 1985 with two Afrikaans productions: Bloedbruilof (Blood Wedding by Lorca, translated by Bartho Smit ??/Uys Krige??**) on August 28 and Don Juan onder die Boere (Bartho Smit) on September 4.

See also André Huguenet Theatre on other theatres with this name.

Sources

Percy Tucker, 1997 [AW].

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