St Stephen's Church

There are two churches in Cape Town by this name, St Stephen's Church, Riebeeck Square, in central Cape Town and St Stephen's Bible Church in Claremont.

Of interest to theatre history in South Africa, is St Stephen's Church, Van Riebeeck Square - housed in one of the oldest custom built theatre buildings in the Southern hemisphere: The African Theatre, built in 1800.

By 1838 the theatre had fallen into disuse under the pressure of the Anti-theatrical movement led by Methodist and Presbyterian churches, and the related Temperance Movement.

The theatre was sold in 1839, and the Presbyterian church rented the space to begin St Stephen's congregation there, with the support of the Dutch Reformed Church. It was intended as achurch for for freed slaves. In 1857 the Dutch Reformed Church bought the original structure, and took over the congregation. This has made it the only Dutch Reformed Church named after a saint; and its congregation is the only Coloured congregation that formed part of the NG Kerk (the mother church), with full admission to its synod, under the old British and Apartheid regimes - since all other Coloured parishes of the N.G. Kerk belonged to the daughter, or mission church.

The building, repeatedly menaced with demolition, was proclaimed a historical monument in 1965. Intermittent attempts have been made to raise funds for a necessary and exstensive restoration of the historical building, particularly in the period between 2001 and 2010.

For more on the history of the building as a church, see the entry about St Stephen's Church, Riebeeck Square on the SAHO website[1]

For more on the history of the original theatre, see The African Theatre

See also Church and Theatre in South Africa

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