June 29, 2006
By Thabang Mokoka
A NEW energy is surging through the Windybrow Theatre in Hillbrow, which relaunched earlier this year after a long period of dormancy.
From the outside the three-storey building looks like a hotel, and a verandah graces the entrance.
Inside, the buzz is very different. Loud music emanates from one of the rooms. It's a rehearsal for Pantsumagic and Senzo Gumede and Siphiwe Sibiya are moving in time to the beat as they prepare the show which will grace the Windybrow stage later in the year.
A heady place to rehearse, the Windybrow complex is a national monument, and much of the building has an old-time feeling, with wooden banisters, a staircase and a fireplace.
Two productions - Socks and Toothpaste and Location 1973 - have already been staged and more are planned for 2006.
This revival was made possible by several developments, particularly the appointment of a new management team.
The theatre was officially relaunched in May 2006 after a six-month gap. "It was during this necessary hiatus that every aspect of the institution was reviewed and improved upon," says the Windybrow's chief exective Vuyo Maphela.
Mncedisi Shabangu, the former associate artistic director at the Market Theatre, is the new artistic director; Zodwa Shongwe is the theatre's resident producer; and Wits University lecturer and poet Kgafela Oa Magogodi is in charge of the theatre's development programmes.
The Windybrow in Hillbrow has been revived
"The Windybrow Theatre is now in a position to fulfil its mission as a cultural institution," says Maphela.
A new mission
Key to its new direction is an emphasis on establishing close ties within Africa.
Based in the midst of the cultural melting pot of Hillbrow, the theatre is in an ideal location to draw from the diverse experiences across Africa.
"A key feature of our strategy and brand is that we recognise the huge artistic value of exchange between African performing artists and institutions," says Maphela.
According to its website the, Windybrow Theatre intends to encourage exchanges between African artists and institutions: encouraging and hosting visitors; putting on productions from other parts of Africa; hosting seminars; and running development programmes for artists from elsewhere in Africa.
"It is important to note that South Africa is part of Africa; which means that our artistic and development programmes also contain much that one could also label South African," the chief executive says.
The theatre now offers much more. Besides regular productions, the theatre now also offers scriptwriting and poetry courses, and a children's theatre initiative.
The scriptwriting course is a eight-month intermediate course, while the poetry course runs for six months.
The year-long children's theatre programme "is designed to stimulate kids in the Hillbrow area" and will culminate in the staging of a production at the end of the year.
Work is also under way to physically revamp the complex and restore the building.
Looking at the past
The venue has long had a connection with Johannesburg.
It was originally built as a family home in 1897 by mining engineer Theodore Reunert, who arrived from the UK to work on the Kimberley diamond mines.
According to the theatre's public relations officer Lindelwa Mahlabe, it "was used as a boarding house and then as a residence for nursing students".
By the mid-1970s it had fallen into disrepair.
Declared a national monument in 1974, Windybrow became a traditional theatre in the late 1980s and a cultural centre in 1993. The department of arts and culture declared the complex a cultural institution in 2005.
Rebirth
After a difficult period, the Windybrow's rebirthing process began in late 2005, culminating with its re-launch in May 2006.
The bar overlooking the newly revamped main theatre
To celebrate, the theatre put on a bitter-sweet play exploring the modern, middleclass African household.
Socks and Toothpaste explored family relationships, and the strains of domestic rage.
This was followed by the musical comedy Location 1973, depicting an imaginary township when soul music, wigs, bell-bottoms and promiscuity were fashionable. It told the tale of Sox, a lovable, but irritating, rascal accused of murdering a feared gangster.
This production will be presented at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown from 29 June to 8 July.
Says Maphela: "While there is further work to be done, particularly on restoring the Windybrow building, we are determined to deliver a sustained, high-quality programme over the next year."
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