(artSMart
Editor Caroline Smart and Beverley Thomas, Director of the National English Literary
Museum, peruse a minuscule selection of theprogrammes contained in the
collection)
In June, 2012, some 22 storage boxes
containing an extensive collection of theatre programmes and other valuable
media items were delivered to the National English Literary Museum (NELM) in
Grahamstown.
They represent all the theatre productions
the late Maurice Kort attended in his lifetime. Before his untimely death in 2012, he was
a regular reviewer for artSMart and his tribute can be found at http://news.artsmart.co.za/2011/11/death-of-maurice-kort.html
“This is indeed an incredible resource”
says artSMart editor, Caroline Smart. “The five boxes I managed to record before
the collection was sent to NELM indicated a mere tip of the iceberg. The
programmes and newspaper cuttings in these files alone showed that Maurice had
visited 112 theatres! I would like to record my gratitude to National Arts
Festival Director, Ismail Mahomed, whose idea it was to approach NELM. I am
sure that Maurice is beaming with pleasure from his spiritual plane!”
It appears that the first production Maurice
Kort saw was Johnny Belinda in 1956 in
Uitenhage presented by the Uitenhage Congregational Players!
The collection will now become known as The
Maurice Jacob Kort Programme Collection and is on permanent loan to NELM from Maurice’s
brother, Norman Kort, who lives in the United States.
NELM is currently handling the massive task
of cataloguing this extensive collection.
“The collection was arranged and listed
very carefully in alphabetical order and we have kept to his arrangement of the
collection,” says Beverley Thomas, Director of NELM. “Maurice Kort was a
theatre aficionado, The Mercury Durban Theatre Awards judge and critic, as well as a
sometime actor and play reader. From an early age, he collected the programmes
for every single theatre performance he attended. He also travelled to London
and New York regularly to see the latest productions there. What makes the
collection notable is that he recorded the date on which he attended each
production as well. The earliest programmes in the collection seem to date from
about 1955 and the latest, 2011, so it is truly a lifetime’s collection and an
amazing record of one man’s pursuit of the entertainment offered by the
theatre.
“Theatre programmes are an integral part of
NELM’s growing collection of theatre material and are often consulted by
researchers,” adds Thomas. “It is a most valuable addition to our holdings on
theatre in South Africa.”
Once the process is complete and NELM's database is online, cataloguing information will be freely available to
all.
More information from Beverley Thomas, Director
of NELM, on b.thomas@ru.ac.za or visit http://www.ru.ac.za/static/institutes/nelm/
NELM’s new building will be South Africa’s first green museum and
Grahamstown’s first green building.
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