Johannesburg Theatre & Music History | A nice fellow | #1

24 November 2023

A nice fellow about my age, Louis van der Merwe, came across my path in White River yesterday. We had been introduced as “fellow collectors” and it turned out that was indeed the case. Louis, amongst many other things, likes cars and anything related to cars and also the Lowveld. His museums are excellent. Go and have a look for yourself at Casterbridge Hollow, a really lekker warren of interesting and eclectic shops, restaurants and other niche service providers. A movie production company stands by to record your contribution to the delights of OnlyFans. Feel free to give it your best shot, even better post a link on this thread.

Collectors get very excited when they meet other collectors. Louis very generously gave me a lovely accumulation of over 100 1940s to 1980s mainly Johannesburg theatre programmes. I already have a box of these back home and with this addition I suspect there is the backbone of a decent collection. Collections tell stories and stories are pointless unless they are told. I have no other choice than to share the stories of what I see in the piles of theatre history of which I have custodianship.

I must also think of my reciprocal gift to Louis. This is very important amongst collectors and goes under the heading of “establishing goodwill” and building a friendship. I hope I get it right when I return to White river next year. I’ll run a series of posts on the different producers and theatres that are represented in the programmes I have. Enjoy.