Sand du Plessis Theatre

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The Sand du Plessis Theatre (Afrikaans : Sand du Plessis-teaterkompleks) is located on Markgraaff Street, Bloemfontein, South Africa. It is a large, multipurpose theater center opened on August 1, 1985 [1] as the home of the Regional Council of Sukovs (Orange Free State Performing Arts Society). It covers a whole city block and includes two formal spaces. The theatre is named after Sand du Plessis, former administrator of Free State. [2] The primary architect of the project was Henk Boting.

Bloemfontein Place in Free State, South Africa

Bloemfontein is the capital city of the province of Free State of South Africa; and, as the judicial capital of the nation, one of South Africa's three national capitals and is the seventh largest city in South Africa. Situated at an altitude of 1,395 m (4,577 ft) above sea level, the city is home to approximately 520,000 residents and forms part of the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality which has a population of 747,431.

South Africa Republic in the southernmost part of Africa

South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by 2,798 kilometres (1,739 mi) of coastline of Southern Africa stretching along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini (Swaziland); and it surrounds the enclaved country of Lesotho. South Africa is the largest country in Southern Africa and the 24th-largest country in the world by land area and, with over 58 million people, is also the world's 24th-most populous nation. It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World or the Eastern Hemisphere. About 80 percent of South Africans are of Bantu ancestry, divided among a variety of ethnic groups speaking different African languages, nine of which have official status. The remaining population consists of Africa's largest communities of European, Asian (Indian), and multiracial (Coloured) ancestry.

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The main theater seats 964 and has been adapted for large productions of drama, musicals, pop music concerts, opera, etc. It opened with Giuseppe Verdi's Nabucco and William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice .

Drama Artwork intended for performance, formal type of literature

Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television. Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been contrasted with the epic and the lyrical modes ever since Aristotle's Poetics —the earliest work of dramatic theory.

Musical theatre Stage work that combines songs, music, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance

Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an integrated whole. Although musical theatre overlaps with other theatrical forms like opera and dance, it may be distinguished by the equal importance given to the music as compared with the dialogue, movement and other elements. Since the early 20th century, musical theatre stage works have generally been called, simply, musicals.

Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form in the United States and United Kingdom during the mid-1950s. The terms "popular music" and "pop music" are often used interchangeably, although the former describes all music that is popular and includes many diverse styles. "Pop" and "rock" were roughly synonymous terms until the late 1960s, when they became increasingly differentiated from each other.

André Huguenet Theater

A second venue in the theater is named after the South African actor André Huguenet, born in Bloemfontein. It is a smaller, experimental theater seating 300 and can also be used as a television studio. It opened in 1985 with two productions in Afrikaans, Blood Wedding by Federico García Lorca on August 28 and Don Juan onder die Boere by Bartho Smit on September 4.

Television studio installation in which video productions take place

A television studio, also called a television production studio, is an installation room in which video productions take place, either for the recording of live television to video tape, or for the acquisition of raw footage for post-production. The design of a studio is similar to, and derived from, movie studios, with a few amendments for the special requirements of television production. A professional television studio generally has several rooms, which are kept separate for noise and practicality reasons. These rooms are connected via 'talkback' or an intercom, and personnel will be divided among these workplaces.

Blood Wedding is a tragedy by Spanish dramatist Federico García Lorca. It was written in 1932 and first performed at Teatro Beatriz in Madrid in March 1933, then later that year in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Theatre critics often group Blood Wedding with Lorca's Yerma and The House of Bernarda Alba as the "rural trilogy". Lorca's planned "trilogy of the Spanish earth" remained unfinished at the time of his death, as he did not include The House of Bernarda Alba in this group of works.

Federico García Lorca Spanish poet, dramatist and theatre director

Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca, known as Federico García Lorca, was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director.

Skateboarding

The theater building is also used as Bloemfontein's skatepark. Skateboarders come to practice their sport here each Saturday.

Skatepark place that was built for skating

A skatepark, or skate park, is a purpose-built recreational environment made for skateboarding, BMX, scooter, wheelchair, and aggressive inline skating. A skatepark may contain half-pipes, quarter pipes, spine transfers, handrails, funboxes, vert ramps, pyramids, banked ramps, full pipes, pools, bowls, snake runs, stairsets, and any number of other objects.

Skateboarding action sport on skateboards

Skateboarding is an action sport which involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry job, and a method of transportation. Skateboarding has been shaped and influenced by many skateboarders throughout the years. A 2009 report found that the skateboarding market is worth an estimated $4.8 billion in annual revenue with 11.08 million active skateboarders in the world. In 2016, it was announced that skateboarding will be represented at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

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Free State (province) Province of South Africa

The Free State is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Bloemfontein, which is also South Africa's judicial capital. Its historical origins lie in the Boer republic called the Orange Free State and later Orange Free State Province.

Grey College, Bloemfontein All-boys public school in Bloemfontein, Free State, South Africa

Grey College is a public school for boys located in Bloemfontein, Free State, South Africa, one of the 23 Milner Schools.

University of the Free State academic publisher

The University of the Free State is a multi campus public university in Bloemfontein, the capital of the Free State and the judicial capital of South Africa. It was first established as an institution of higher learning in 1904 as a tertiary portion of Grey College. It was declared an independent Afrikaans-language university in 1950 and the name was changed to the University of the Orange Free State. The university has two satellite campuses. Initially a whites-only precinct, the university was fully de-segregated in 1996. The first black university vice-chancellor was appointed in 2010.

Laurika Rauch, is a South African singer who performs in both Afrikaans and English. She had a hit single in 1979 with Kinders van die Wind, written by Koos du Plessis. The song featured prominently in the Afrikaans television series "Phoenix & Kie" in the late seventies.

Morné du Plessis OIS is a former South African rugby union player often described as one of the Springboks' most successful captains. During the five years from 1975 to 1980 that he served as captain, the Springboks won 13 of 15 matches, giving Du Plessis an 86.66% success rate as captain.

Dewald Louw is the winner of the first season of The Afrikaans KykNET Idols in South Africa.

Jannie du Plessis South African rugby union footballer

Jan Nathaniel du Plessis is a South African rugby union player, who plays as a prop for Montpellier in the French Top 14. He played for the Free State Cheetahs in the Currie Cup and the Cheetahs in Super Rugby until 2007, when he joined Durban-based side the Sharks, where he played until 2015. He won 70 caps for South Africa between 2007 and 2015.

JP du Plessis South African rugby union and rugby league footballer

Phillipus Jacobus Snyman 'JP' du Plessis is a South African rugby union player for San Diego Legion in Major League Rugby.

Verna Barbara Robertson Vels was a South African writer and radio/television personality. She was responsible for programs on art and programs concerning youth. She was closely involved in the planning of television programs for the establishment of the Afrikaans service and started the children's magazine. Her most famous work was Liewe Heksie; the stories were originally written for radio and later published and edited for television and video.

Phil du Plessis, Afrikaans poet, musician and medical doctor, was born as Johannes du Plessis at Fouriesburg, in the Free State, South Africa, on 22 March 1944, and died in Cape Town on 28 November 2011. Following the appearance of his first anthology he was hailed by Andre Brink as the spokesman for an underground 'Sixties' group in Afrikaans poetry. Something of a Renaissance man, a leader of an Afrikaans avant-garde, his work was experimental, latterly integrating poetry and art.

Willie du Plessis (rugby player, born 1990) South African rugby union footballer

Willem Nicolaas Frederik du Plessis is a South African rugby union player, currently playing with French Top 14 side Bayonne. His regular position is fly-half.

Eden is a South African pop band. Originally made up of Jay, Paulo, Johan and Sean, the band debuted during the popular South African Aardklop Festival followed by a tour all over South Africa releasing their album In in 1997. After Sean Else left in 2006, the boy band continued as a trio. Since 2003, the band has released three more albums, Point of No Return (2003), Eden (2006) and Knieë Lam (2008), a live DVD Live at The Mardi Gras (2008) and a compilation album Dekade (2009). They are signed to Coleske Artists.

Christo John du Plessis is a South African rugby union player who most recently played the SWD Eagles. His regular position is flanker or number eight.

Hoërskool Sand du Plessis is a secondary school in Bloemfontein, Free State, South Africa.

Martinus Jacobus van der Heever is a South African rugby union player. His regular position is hooker.

Petrus Francois Smith is a South African former rugby union player and currently the head coach of South African Pro14 side the Cheetahs and Currie Cup side the Free State Cheetahs. His regular playing position was fly-half or centre.

Charl du Plessis (pianist) South African pianist Charl du Plessis

Charl Petrus du Plessis is a South African classical and jazz pianist. He is one of five South African Steinway artists and has won two South African Music Awards in 2017 and 2018. For the past 18 years he has been the pianist for South African singer-songwriter Nataniël. He is also the founder and pianist of the Charl du Plessis Trio which includes Werner Spies (bass) and Peter Auret (drums).

The Bloemfonteinse Stadskouburg is a theater on Markgraaff St in Bloemfontein, South Africa.

The Observatory Theatre (Afrikaans:Sterrewagteater) is an observatory in the neighborhood of Naval Hill, Bloemfontein, South Africa, where Sukovs founded a theater in 1978.

References

  1. "The Encyclopaedia of South African Theatre, Film, Media and Performance" . Retrieved 22 February 2013.
  2. "Ag sies!". Ons Stad. June 16, 2010. Retrieved 23 February 2013.