HOMEPAGE

Shakespeare has been a part of the cultural experience of South Africans for many years and has generated a substantial heritage of interest. This is scarcely surprising since Shakespeare is established as a valued (if sometimes controversial) feature of education at secondary and tertiary levels, and holds his own in the performance repertoire of South African theatre, ballet and classical music.

The Society grew out of a discussion following an address by the late Professor M. C. Bradbrook, Professor Emerita in the University of Cambridge, during the Winter School at the 1984 National Arts Festival in Grahamstown. Johannesburg journalist Mr Joe Podbury suggested the formation of a national body to foster the interest in Shakespeare already felt by many ordinary South Africans. A steering committee was accordingly elected. The inaugural meeting of the society took place a year later, on Friday 5 July in the 1820 Settlers National Monument in Grahamstown. A draft constitution was amended and adopted, and the late Professor Guy Butler was elected President unopposed, together with an executive committee.

A project of the Grahamstown Foundation