10/10/2026
Oh ... this was a bad slip-up on our side. We forgot to say ...
𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐘 𝐁𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐇𝐃𝐀𝐘, 𝐆𝐔𝐈𝐋𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐑𝐄!
The East London Guild Theatre celebrated its 65th birthday on 6 October.
The theatre was born of an idea of Dr B Bromilow-Downing against the harsh backdrop of a World War 2 prison camp. Dr Bromilow-Downing was incarcerated as a war-time prisoner and according to sources, Dr Bromilow-Downing dreamt of the day he would be released and allowed to return home, "and whiled away the empty hours in the camp by writing a pantomime".
The iconic and much-loved theatre was built at a cost of £79 000 (R158 000) in the early 1960s, after more than eight years of public fundraising. It was officially opened on Saturday, 6 October 1962. The theatre accommodates 486 people.
The inaugural production - the British comedy, School for Scandal - was directed by Mary Howe, who reportedly imported costumes from London especially for the occasion.
Over the years we have seen many outstanding productions and welcomed the cream of South Africa's performing artists on stage. The Guild Theatre also created a platform for local talent to blossom.
𝑶𝒏 17 𝑺𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒓, 𝒁𝒂𝒏𝒆 𝑭𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒏, 𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 36 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒐𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒓𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒇𝒇, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒐𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒆𝒎.
Happy birthday, Guild! Here's to many more entertaining years and countless successful productions!
