The African Theatre (Afrikaans : Afrikaansche Schouwburg) was a theatre in Cape Town, South Africa. It was the first stone theater in the European style in South Africa and one of the first in the Southern Hemisphere. It was also known by other names, such as the Komediehuis, The Theatre, etc. [1] The building was later used as a church by the Dutch 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 exposed Table Mountain Sandstone, and the rest of the walls are stuccoed stone and mudbrick. [2]
The theatre opened in September 1801 with a production of William Shakespeare's Henry 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 of August von Kotzebue's Der Papagoy, staged on March 5, 1803. [3] Theatre in Dutch proved an important precursor to theatre in Afrikaans. [4]
The Frenchman Charles Etienne Boniface, who came to the Cape Colony in 1806 and remained active in theatre in South Africa for the next 46 years, aroused much scandal with his works, mostly cabaret. They were racy and commanded attention. [5]
When Anglican 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, after Saint Stephen (who was the first martyr to be stoned). 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 the yellowwood, American pine, and oak used. [8]
The restored building was reopened in January 2009. [9]
Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken in South Africa, Namibia and Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It evolved from the Dutch vernacular of South Holland spoken by the predominantly Dutch settlers and enslaved population of the Dutch Cape Colony, where it gradually began to develop distinguishing characteristics in the 17th and 18th centuries.
The Dutch Reformed Church is a Reformed Christian denomination in South Africa. It also has a presence in neighbouring countries, such as Namibia, Eswatini, and parts of Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia. In 2013 it claimed 1.1 million members and 1,602 ordained ministers in 1,158 congregations.
Stephanus Jacobus du Toit was a South African nationalist, theologian, journalist and translator. He promoted the Afrikaans language as a symbol of Afrikaner nationalism, launched the first Afrikaans language newspaper Die Afrikaanse Patriot, and translated the Bible into Afrikaans. He was Superintendent of Education in the South African Republic from 1882 to 1889.
The Belhar Confession is a Christian statement of belief written in Afrikaans in 1982. It was adopted as a confession of faith by the Dutch Reformed Mission Church (DRMC) in South Africa in 1986
The Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa was formed by the union of the black and coloured Nederduits Gereformeerde Kerk mission churches.
Johan Adam Heyns (1928–1994) was an Afrikaner Calvinist theologian and moderator of the general synod of the Nederduits Gereformeerde Kerk (NGK) in South Africa. He was assassinated at his home in Waterkloof Ridge, Pretoria.
Gardens is an affluent inner-city suburb of Cape Town located just to the south of the city centre located in the higher elevations of the "City Bowl" and directly beneath Table Mountain and Lion's Head. It is home to several national museums such as Iziko South African National Gallery and the Iziko South African Museum. The University of Cape Town also houses its Fine Arts department in the suburb, at Michaelis School of Fine Art. Company's Garden, South Africa's oldest garden, a public park and heritage site is a focal point of the suburb. The area is also home to the oldest synagogue in Southern Africa, the Old Shul and its successor, the Gardens Shul, "The Mother Synagogue of South Africa."
The Dutch Reformed Church in Africa is a Reformed Christian denomination based in South Africa. It also has congregations in Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Along with the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK) and the Reformed Churches in South Africa, the NHKA is one of the three Dutch Reformed sister churches of South Africa. The NHKA retains the old Nomenclature Nederduitsch, the word originally referring to the Dutch language. The word refers to the Low Saxon language today. The Dutch language remained the official language of the church until 1933 when the church started functioning almost exclusively in Afrikaans.
Afrikaners are a Southern African ethnic group descended from predominantly Dutch settlers first arriving at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652. Until 1994, they dominated South Africa's politics as well as the country's commercial agricultural sector.
The 1992 Currie Cup Rural A & B was the fourth division of the Currie Cup competition, the premier domestic rugby union competition in South Africa. This was the 54th season since the competition started in 1889.
Wolvengat, also known as Viljoenshof, is a village in the southern Overberg region, in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is situated 10 kilometres (6 mi) south of Elim and 35 kilometres (22 mi) southwest of Bredasdorp. It was originally named Wolfgat or Wolvengat in reference to the brown hyena, known as strandwolf in Afrikaans. However, when the local post office was established the authorities named it Viljoenshof in honour of DJ Viljoen, the Dutch Reformed (NGK) minister of Bredasdorp from 1904 to 1934; this name was then extended to the village. The original name Wolvengat was officially restored in 1991.
Boerehaat is an Afrikaans word that means "ethnic hatred of Boers" or Afrikaners as they became known after the Second Boer War. The related term Boerehater has been used to describe a person who hates, prejudices or criticises Boers or Afrikaners.
David Pieter Faure was the founder of the Unitarian Church in South Africa, an interpreter and a Grand Master of the Freemasons in South Africa.
The Alhambra Bioscope, also known as the Alhambra Theatre, was a theatre that opened on Riebeek Street, Cape Town, South Africa in 1929.
The Johannesburg Reformed Church was the first congregation of the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK) to be founded in Johannesburg on August 14, 1887. All the congregations on the Witwatersrand stem from it, but by the 2010s, the NGK yearbook recorded only 90 in its ward which had long ceased to operate independently.
The Johannesburg North Reformed Church/Andrew Murray Congregation is a bilingual congregation of the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK) in the Johannesburg suburb of Orchards. It was formed in 1999 by the merger of the NGK congregation and the Andrew Murray Congregation and functions as a church without borders.
The Johannesburg East Reformed Church was a congregation of the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK) in the Johannesburg suburb of Doornfontein, just east of downtown. It is also known as the Irene Church after the sobriquet of its second and third churches on 1 Beit Street. Five weeks before its centennial, on June 1, 1997, Johannesburg East was absorbed by the Johannesburg Reformed Church (NGK), from whence it had seceded on July 8, 1897.
The Langlaagte Reformed Church was the 28th congregation of the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK) on the Transvaal and the second in Johannesburg after the Johannesburg Reformed Church (NGK) (1887). The congregation is well known as the spiritual home of the Langlaagte orphanage, later named the Abraham Kriel Children’s Home after Rev. Abraham Kriel, who founded it as pastor of Langlaagte.
The Pietermaritzburg Reformed Church was a congregation of the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK) in Pietermaritzburg, the capital of KwaZulu-Natal, but after the sale of the congregation’s downtown building, its centre shifted to what is now Howick. It was the first congregation founded by Voortrekkers after they left Cape Colony and the 25th oldest congregation in the NGK. The congregation’s membership, however, declined by around two-thirds, from 752 in 2000 to 256 in 2015.
The Potchefstroom Reformed Church (in Potchefstroom, North West, South Africa, is the oldest congregation of the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa in what was then the Transvaal or South African Republic. At its founding in March 1842, it was the 28th congregation in what would later become South Africa and the tenth outside of the Western and Southern Cape Synod.
33°55′17″S18°25′03″E / 33.92144°S 18.41751°E
