Johannesburg Theatre & Music History | Brian Brooke | #4

December 11, 2023

Brian Brooke died in 1997 at the age of 85. From 1946 to the mid 1980s he was a force to be reckoned with in South African theatre. In amongst the White River programs are ten relating to his productions, ranging from 1957 to 1972. He built his own theatre, the Brooke Theatre in 1955, sadly demolished in 1982.

Scanning through them I recognize names such as Adrian Steed (my generation recall his daughter(s?) with even more interest) and Taubie Kushlick (acting in Separate Tables). Earlier generations will be familiar with many more names.

Various program notes illustrate (perhaps with some exaggeration) the heady times for theatre in the 1950s and 1960s:

“certainly no city in the English speaking world which supports six live theatres”

and

“in 1946 there were a couple of producers and a handful of professionals. Now South Africa can boast of a Theatrical Industry”.

I note the Lufthansa advertisements and wonder if my friend Gerhard Kemper (the Man from Lufthansa, a separate “suitcase story” of mine) had something to do with this. He was a theatre lover and in charge of Lufhansa in South Africa at the time of the placing of the advertisement.

Similarly I see the “World Tours” advertisement and muse whether actor Robert Haber was behind this. I have Robert’s files from his acting career in the late 1940s and in the 1950s. He went into the travel business thereafter.

The charge for a program shifted from “one shilling” to “10 cents”, around the time South Africa changed its currency from pounds to rands in 1961. The Minstrel Show passed muster nearly sixty years ago. The obvious use of “blackface” wouldn’t go down too well today. The Killing of Sister George (1966) is one of the earlier plays with a lesbian theme, albeit implied rather than implicit.

Brooke was the first producer of the iconic musical Ipi Tombi, the story of a young black man who comes from his rural home to Johannesburg. I read that “Ipi Tombi” means “where are the girls?”. This I did not know. It is suggested that Johnny Clegg drew much of his early inspiration from this musical.

I see the name of actress Margeret Inglis - I wonder if she is somehow related to emergency doctor and Freedom Challenge Rider Sandy Inglis? Stranger things have happened.

Interesting to note Brian Brooke’s foray into the world of tenpin bowling!

It remains for me to get hold of Brian Brooke’s biography “My own Personal Star”, published by his son in 1978. Perhaps I’ll get to meet his son and talk about his Dad and the phenomenal contribution he made to the world of theatre in South Africa.