Loubser Hall

Loubser Hall is the original name of the Little Theatre, a small theatre venue located in Gqeberha's city centre.

The venue formed part of the Athenaeum Society building.

Later known as the Ford Little Theatre.

Often referred to as PEMADS Little Theatre (PEMADS is the Port Elizabeth Musical and Dramatic Society which was based at the venue for many years.

History

Loubser Hall (1901- )

Loubser Hall, was opened on April 17, 1901, and formed part of the Athenaeum Society's building. It was named after Matthew Michael Loubser, who was born in the Cape on July 25, 1846. He "fathered" the Athenaeum Club, which in its day was was a great centre of social life, sport and entertainment. He was actively involved with the Gymnastic Club, Eastern Province Cricket Union, Port Elizabeth Amateur Athletic and Cycling Club and the Crusaders Football Club. Loubser was also president of the Port Elizabeth Agricultural Society. He died in Oberhof, Germany, on June 29, 1914.

The Athenaeum became a social club in 1916.

The building was owned by the Port Elizabeth Municipality.

The Little Theatre

Loubser Hall was converted into a theatre in 1946.

Ford Little Theatre (1980-?)

In November 1977, a car truck backed into the side of the theatre and badly damaged the wall. The wall started bulging outwards towards Castle Hill, leading to fears that the building might collapse and cause serious injury. The City Engineer's Department then condemned the building as unsafe. A spokesman for the department said that any increase in the bulge could lead to the roof collapsing. The wall was then shored up with wooden beams. All productions there were cancelled until the building was repaired. Pemads started an appeal for funds which they called "Save Our Theatre". Repairs were expected to cost R75 000, of which the Ford Motor Company donated R25 000 and the Port Elizabeth Municipality donated R16 000. The balance was raised by selling the theatre's 255 seats to the public for R100 a seat. Ford's managing director, Brian Pitt, said that in addition to providing a permanent home for Pemads, it also would create a venue for other theatrical societies such as PEAAT.

In gratitude to Ford, the hall was renamed the Ford Little Theatre and reopened on Thursday, October 16, 1980, with Death Trap, directed by Noel Morgan.

PEMADS Little Theatre

Harold Davidson was instrumental in obtaining the use of this hall for rehearsal purposes. After PEMADS members and directors got used to their new home, productions began.

Conditions were primitive. Back-stage storage space was non-existent, lighting was barely adequate, and if you had a large cast, conditions became chaotic.

After the facilities were improved the new dressing rooms were considered "no fun" as the team feeling of doing all that costume changing with just a sheet on a line separating the boys from the girls, was gone.

Also referred to as the Pemads Little Theatre, after the Port Elizabeth Musical and Dramatic Society (PEMADS), the society that built and owns it.

Contains the Noel Morgan Auditorium.

Among the other local groups using it are the Port Elizabeth Afrikaanse Amateur Toneelvereniging (PEAAT).

Current status

Thanks to the incredible efforts by Harold Davidson, Pemads was allowed to use the Loubser Hall for their rehearsals and eventually as a venue for staging their productions as well. The hall was turned into the Little Theatre (founded 1945) in 1946 and is still used for theatrical productions by organisations such as Pemads.

Impact on SA theatre, film, media and/or performance

It is still in use today (2018) and is once again known as the Little Theatre. It is still used by Pemads and PEAAT, the Afrikaans theatre group and a host of other organisations.