The Labia Theatre is one of the oldest independent movie theatres in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. It is situated in

Gardens A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

, an inner-city suburb in the

City Bowl The City Bowl is a part of Cape Town in South Africa. It is a natural amphitheatre-shaped area bordered by Table Bay and defined by the mountains of Signal Hill, Lion's Head, Table Mountain and Devil's Peak. The area includes the Cape Tow ...

History

The original building was an Italian Embassy ballroom opened by Princess Labia on 16 May 1949 as a theatre for the staging of live performance arts. Renowned playwrights such as Robert Kirby staged productions at the theatre.Labia theatre: the little cinema that could
''Mail & Guardian''. 23 October 2014 A consortium consisting of the public broadcaster, the

SABC The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is the public broadcaster in South Africa, and provides 19 radio stations (Amplitude modulation, AM/Frequency modulation, FM) as well as 6 television broadcasts and 3 OTT Services to the general ...

and the Department of Sea Fisheries owned the theatre. Films were screened during the periods when no live performances were presented. From the early 1970s, the cinema was owned by Polish emigrant, Wolf Miknowski. It was facing significant challenges to its survival with the opening of the Nico Malan Theatre (now the

Artscape Theatre Centre Artscape Theatre Centre (formerly Nico Malan Theatre Centre) is the main performing arts centre in Cape Town, South Africa. It was opened in 1971 and is located on reclaimed land in the Foreshore area. The inaugural performance was scheduled to ...

) in the CBD. Miknowski allowed Eric Liknaitzky to rent the theatre to screen independent arthouse films. Liknaitzky, Trevor Taylor and Tony Velks were among the chief distributors.

Apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

legislation such as the Reservation of Separate Amenities Act, 1953 was largely ignored. Mario Veo and Ingrid Burnett then owned the cinema from 1979 to 1989.Eric Liknaitzky, a Labia Theatre legend on SA’s independent cinema landscape, dies in London
''Daily Maverick''. 3 July 2023 The actor,

Richard E. Grant Richard E. Grant (born Richard Grant Esterhuysen; 5 May 1957) is an Eswatini-born English actor and presenter. He made his film debut as Withnail in the comedy '' Withnail and I'' (1987). Grant received critical acclaim for his role as Jack H ...

was studying nearby at the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest univer ...

and he was a frequent patron of the cinema. For Grant it acted as a "second university", providing him an opening into the world of cinema. Ludi Kraus has owned the cinema since September 1989. Kraus had previously imported foreign-language films from Europe and arranged their screenings at the Baxter Theatre Centre and the Nico Malan Theatre Centre. Kraus left behind his legal career to concentrate on running the Labia full-time. It has continued to mainly screen cult, classic and art movies, but included more commercial fare too. Much of the original features of the old building have been maintained, such as the ticket booth, sweets counter, and even the seats. Changes to the theatre, since its inception, have included three more cinemas, a bar and food area, and a terrace. For several years, there was an annex location with two modern screens in the Lifestyle Centre at 50 Kloof Street, but this location was closed in 2013.

Crowdfunding

In July 2014, the Labia Theatre started a

crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and Alternative Finance, alternative finance, to fund projects "withou ...

campaign called "Digital Gold." This initiative was to raise funds for digital projectors, new facilities, and an upgraded foyer. The initiative was sufficiently successful, with 885 individuals raising over R550,000. Although well short of the R2,000,000 target needed, the campaign helped rejuvenate the Labia Theatre with digital projectors in all of its cinemas.

Controversy

In February 2012, the

Palestine Solidarity Campaign The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) is an activist organisation in England and Wales. It was founded in the UK in 1982 and incorporated in 2004 as Palestine Solidarity Campaign Ltd. In 2023, ''The Guardian'' described it as "Europe’s ...

(PSC) threatened to boycott the theatre and lodge a complaint with the

Human Rights Commission A human rights commission, also known as a human relations commission, is a body set up to investigate, promote or protect human rights. The term may refer to international, national or subnational bodies set up for this purpose, such as nationa ...

(HRC) after it refused to screen the documentary ''Roadmap to Apartheid'', which draws parallels between

South African apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

and the

Israeli–Palestinian conflict The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is an ongoing military and political conflict about Territory, land and self-determination within the territory of the former Mandatory Palestine. Key aspects of the conflict include the Israeli occupation ...

, due to its politically controversial nature and what appeared to the theatre's owner to be one-sidedness; the PSC alleged, however, that this was due to local

Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

lobbying, and

Right2Know The Right2Know Campaign is a South African non-profit advocacy organisation established in 2010 to reduce state secrecy in the drafting of laws, increase access to information, and protect freedom of expression especially on the internet. As part ...

, who were hosting the free screening in association with the Labia and the PSC, accused the Labia of "succumb ngto pressure from the Zionist Federation".

References

External links

''I ♥ the Labia''
– a short film made in support of the theatre's crowdfunding effort {{Authority control Theatres in Cape Town Repertory cinemas Cinemas in South Africa Art Deco architecture in South Africa