The 1950s Vaudeville Stage

The 50s were an era whose actions affected the course of South African history greatly. This was the era before the full onslaught of apartheid, when the ANC became a mass movement and the Freedom Charter was drafted (1955) by political, religious and community leaders and their affected communities at a historical gathering, a document the congress and it’s movement stood by, a blueprint that would be the foundation of South Africa’s constitution and democracy. It was also in 1955 when women of all races took to the streets in a peaceful protest march to the president’s office in the Union Buildings to serve a memorandum against the pass laws.

Legislation in the 1950’s put some final touches to the consolidation of the apartheid state as well as the official violence that implemented it. Racially mixed communities such as Kofifi-Sophiatown and District Six were forcibly moved. ‘Destruction of these vibrant communities was a major factor in bringing the era of the large dance bands to an end by the late 1950’s. For a while smaller groups survived. Vaudeville troupes of the mid fifties that were prominent were mainly the Gay Gaeties . Led by James Tutie the Gay Gaeties provided initial training for young artists such as Thandie Klaasen who was then known as Thandie Mpambani.