The show must – and will! – go on at The Guild Theatre
The Guild Theatre is East London’s ‘gracious old lady’, home of the performing arts in Buffalo City, and a venue that has seen a wide variety of performers grace its stage since its official opening in 1962.
Today, The Guild Theatre is the only fully equipped theatre operating in the eastern part of the Eastern Cape and serves communities as far afield as Alice, Queenstown, Butterworth and Mthatha. It is utiziled by a diverse range of producers and organisations including professional touring companies, amateur companies (including school productions), seminars, fashion shows, religious gatherings and graduations, and is dearly loved by the East London community and beyond.
In recent months, we have seen the launch of ‘The Show Must Go On’, a fundraising initiative to assist the theatre and maintain the running of a venue which has been home to some of South Africa’s leading artists and emerging local performers, along with numerous international acts, since it first opened its doors.
We would like to add, at this point, that The Guild Theatre is not facing imminent closure in any way. It is rather looking at upgrading and improving the facilities in place, in order to cater for every type of performance that it stages. The theatre has been affected and indeed is currently affected, as we all are, by load-shedding. It is unfortunately something that will be implemented on a regular basis for the foreseeable future in South Africa and we all have to work around it, this much we know. But despite the challenges faced throughout this, The Guild Theatre has not cancelled a single show. With the exception of one postponement last year, the show has always gone on, albeit with a limited lighting system, thanks to a small generator already in place.
Faced with these challenges, The Guild Theatre has launched ‘The Show Must Go On’ campaign in order to improve and ensure that each and every event held there will have full facilities at all times, load-shedding or no load-shedding.
With a monthly electricity consumption of close to R30,000, the theatre is looking at ways to bring down that cost and will be able to do so with the installation of LED lights. Once that installation is complete, a power audit will be undertaken to establish what size generator is then needed for during load-shedding implementation. Approximately R700,000 is needed to fully complete this installation (generator included) and the theatre has so far managed to raise around R50,000. There is still a long way to go obviously but the ball is in motion and the East London community has been incredible in their support, financial and otherwise.
We spoke with Zane Flanagan at The Guild Theatre recently and he told us that he is bowled over by the response and support from the people of East London. With two donation boxes in place at the theatre and a bank account set up solely for the campaign, Zane is overwhelmed at the generosity of people but adds that people must not feel they have to give large donations. Times are hard for all of us and when you live on a budget, as most do these days, we often feel that we can’t afford to give, despite wanting to support a great cause. Zane stresses that even if a person gives R10 or R20 on a monthly basis, it will go a very long way in assisting their fundraising efforts. And we fully agree with Zane on this: if enough people were to give a minimal amount but on a regular basis, funds will be raised in no time at all.
Zane also welcomes ideas and suggestions from the community on how best to raise funds, be it via a golf day, fun run/walk etc. A theatre-themed fun run/walk for example would not only be an excellent, fun event to get involved in but also a guaranteed way to assist the theatre financially.
With 26 LED lights already ordered and awaiting delivery, the theatre is already on the way to improving and expanding to its greatest potential.
As a dynamic playhouse facility, we want to see The Guild Theatre up and running and staging events that we all love so much, with as few challenges as possible to interfere. Several artists have already come on board with the campaign including Chris Chameleon, who performed at the theatre this week, and comedian Barry Hilton, who entertained audiences in June. Profits made from these shows, and others, have already gone a long way in helping the campaign and Zane plans to hold further fundraising events very second month or so. Coming up
in September is a Queen Tribute production, staged by Stirling High School, and proceeds from this week-long show will also assist in the fundraising.
So whether you pop R20 into a donation box at the theatre, make a deposit into the bank account or co-ordinate an event with the proceeds going towards the campaign, you are making a difference and assisting in getting The Guild Theatre running to its full potential.From small beginnings as a concept formed by Dr B.Bromilow-Downing during World War II and developed afterwards with Arthur Markson, The Guild Theatre today is a wonderful venue that we believe is well worth maintaining. It is in the best interest of East London and its people to assist however we can and prove that, no matter what challenges are faced, the show will always go on.
If you wish to make a donation towards the campaign, you can do so to the following account: Nedbank Limited, Branch Code 198765, Account Number 901 886 6026, Account Type Corporate Saver/Savings. If you have a great idea that would assist The Guild Theatre in its fundraising efforts, please feel free to contact Zane on 043 743 0704. All suggestions are welcome.