Issy Silbowitz

Issy Silbowitz is a lifelong follower and enthusiast of Cape Town theatre.

Issy worked in the book trade, but as a long-standing member of the Cape Town Gilbert and Sullivan Society he also participated in walk-on parts in numerous productions, as well working as prompt on occasion. Later he was also the Secretary of the Cape Town Theatre Club for a number of years, during which time he co-ordinated guest visits/speakers, among which were theatre luminaries like Percy Tucker, Robyn Scott and Molly Seftel, amongst many others.

During the 1980s and 1990s, while working in Durban, he also moonlighted at The Playhouse theatre as an usher.

In 2026, while moving from Sea Point into smaller accommodation in a retirement home in Gardens, he donated his invaluable collection of programmes from local shows he has seen to the PARC research collection at the African Open Institute at Stellenbosch University. The collection includes drama, ballet, orchestral and musical theatre programmes from the 1980s to date.