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Impact Community Theatre – A New Force on Gqeberha’s Local Theatre Scene

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Nelson Mandela Bay has a long and proud history in the Performing Arts field and, for 92 years, the PEG&S Society at the Savoy Theatre has been at the forefront of local Theatre excellence. The last 15 years have seen great change in the focus and activities of G&S and the Society is eager to meet these new challenges and embrace every opportunity to really make an impact in the Community it serves. This new perspective led to the much anticipated launch of the Impact Community Theatre Company on Thursday 2nd May 2024.

Impact Community Theatre Company was born in 2021 when members voted on a proposal from President Rose Cowpar who has long been the driving force behind the new and re-energised community performing arts group. Cowpar said ”it was already very clear that our audiences had no connection with the Gilbert and Sullivan name, many people having no idea who or what G&S was! Once P.E. became Gqeberha, the stage was set to make a change! Our Management Team are ready to leap into a new era for both Impact and our incredible theatre family”.

Cowpar also spoke passionately at the launch about wanting a name that really reflected the diverse activities of the Society and the impact being made on a daily basis for people of all ages and backgrounds. From doing just one show a year, the committed group of volunteers on the Management Team have built an annual offering that includes cabarets, concerts, major musicals, workshops for all ages, the Savoy Drama Club for under 18s, a Carols evening that has supported Maranatha Children’s Home over 14 years and the groundbreaking Holiday Theatre Project.

Leandi Fontini, who joined the Team in December 2022 and will direct Grease later this year, saw first hand the impact that G&S has made as she co-directed Music! Movies! Magic! in 2023 and said “it’s so fulfilling and exciting to see young people blossom not just on the stage but as wonderful, kind, confident human beings. Impact Community Theatre Company says it all”.

A lengthy process to get the new branding right has culminated in a logo that reflects both the past and the future of Community Theatre in Nelson Mandela Bay. Greek theatre masks are joined with an African mask and the colours include traditional G&S purple alongside the opposite colour on the wheel, yellow to signify the broad range of people that Impact works with as well as green to represent beginnings, new growth and renewal.

This new beginning for Impact stands on the solid foundation built by G&S and recognised in 2022 by the Mandela Bay Theatre Complex who awarded the inaugural Isakhono Musical Theatre Fellowship to the Society widely recognised as a true incubator for future talent.

Impact will present their first production later this month with the innovative new Sing Out Loud Festival showcasing over 50 outstanding Bay singers. Sing Out Loud opens on Friday 24th May and runs until 2 June in a festival style format.

Videos From the Launch:

Rose Cowpar, President of the newly renamed Impact Community Theatre Group (formerly the PE Gilbert & Sullivan Society for the past 92 years) explains how the society decided to change their name to reflect a new focus and increasing diverse product. This on the occasion of the renaming of the PE Gilbert and Sullivan Society to The Impact Community Theatre Group at the Savoy Theatre in Parsons Hill, Gqeberha on Thursday 2 May 2024. Included in Rose’s speech are the names of local luminaries that have graced the stage in Gqeberha and gone on to World Acclaim with names Like: Judy Page, Ge Korsten, Dianne Todd, Alice Krige, Richard Foster, Jody Butler, Kas von Memerty and more.

Melissa Leander sings Screw Loose From Cry-Baby – Melissa presented this item on the occasion of the renaming of the PE Gilbert and Sullivan Society to The Impact Community Theatre Group at the Savoy Theatre in Parsons Hill, Gqeberha on Thursday 2 May 2024.

Scoutt Mey Delange – Everlasting From Tuck Everlasting – Scoutt presented this item on the occasion of the renaming of the PE Gilbert and Sullivan Society to The Impact Community Theatre Group at the Savoy Theatre in Parsons Hill, Gqeberha on Thursday 2 May 2024.

MC for the Evening Thuba Myeki sings The Greatest Show From The Greatest Showman – Thuba presented this close out item on the occasion of the renaming of the PE Gilbert and Sullivan Society to The Impact Community Theatre Group at the Savoy Theatre in Parsons Hill, Gqeberha on Thursday 2 May 2024.

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Alan Straton

Chief Cook, Bottle Washer and Broom Mechanic at MyPE
Passionate about Port Elizabeth and definitely NOT packing for Perth. Alan's ethos is epitomised in the words of Nelson Mandela; "I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society. If need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." See more articles by Alan.