TheAfrican Theatre (Afrikaans:Afrikaansche Schouwburg) was a theatre inCape Town,South Africa. It was the first stone theater in the European style in South Africa and one of the first in theSouthern Hemisphere. It was also known by other names, such as theKomediehuis,The Theatre, etc.[1] The building was later used as a church by theDutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK) and stands to this day.
The British governor at the time,Sir George Yonge, 5th Baronet, designed the theater and had it built in 1800 in what is now Riebeeck Square in downtown Cape Town. It had no lobby or orchestra pit and the stage was small, but the interior was lavish, featuring a balcony and richly decorated boxes for patrons. Underneath the theatre lay storerooms and shops. An orchestra pit was built in 1804.
It has two stories and lies on Bree Street. The foundation for about two meters below the walls is exposedTable Mountain Sandstone, and the rest of the walls arestuccoed stone andmudbrick.[2]
The theatre opened in September 1801 with a production ofWilliam Shakespeare'sHenry IV, Part 1, which is commonly regarded as the beginning of live entertainment in South Africa. Both Dutch and British plays were presented. The first Dutch play known to be performed there was a translation ofAugust von Kotzebue'sDer Papagoy, staged on March 5, 1803.[3] Theatre in Dutch proved an important precursor to theatre in Afrikaans.[4]
The FrenchmanCharles Etienne Boniface, who came to theCape Colony in 1806 and remained active in theatre in South Africa for the next 46 years, aroused much scandal with his works, mostlycabaret. They were racy and commanded attention.[5]
WhenAnglican Church authorities got wind of the increasingly worldly content being shared there, the theatre was closed in 1836. The slaves were freed at the time and held their first church services in 1838 in the building. Outraged owners, or slaves according to some sources,[6] pelted the building with stones, lending it the name St. Stephen's Church, afterSaint Stephen (who was the first martyr to bestoned). On November 12, 1857, the NGK took over the building and made several alterations to suit their use of it.
The church is now a national heritage site.[7] In the early 2000s, the St. Stephen's Restoration Trust began refurbishing the building. Original paint colors were approximated based on 19th-century paintings. Paint was stripped from the pews to display the original color of theyellowwood,American pine, andoak used.[8]
The restored building was reopened in January 2009.[9]
33°55′17″S18°25′03″E / 33.92144°S 18.41751°E /-33.92144; 18.41751
