Bring your coins to help theatre break a world record

The LALT Theatre House will be born this spring – the East Rand’s first acting academy, an intimate and creative space where new artists can flourish, create content and perform.

The LALT Theatre House will also run charity projects whereby businesses and individuals can sponsor deserving students to further their talents in the field of dramatic arts through the SA Drama College.

“We want to refocus our commitment to the community, providing a space where actors can learn but also develop,” theatre owner Louw Breytenbach said.

“The LALT Theatre House aims to inspire more youth to join arts programmes and will expand its services and classes.”

From September, the LALT Theatre House will be situated in Beyers Park and will host acting classes, ballet classes, courses in film and video editing as well as adjudication and scriptwriting courses.

“We want to make sure students are given every opportunity to excel in their performing arts careers.”

The new venue will also have an intimate 70-seater theatre, dance hall and various training classes, not forgetting a quaint little coffee shop for those who prefer great coffee in addition to their crafted entertainment.

The need for growth is the result of the success of this community theatre, which has played host to some of the biggest names in South African theatre, including Jonathan Roxmouth, Wesley Swain Louder, Rocco de Villiers, Nianell, Joshua na die Reën and SAMA winners ADAM, to name a few.

This special space is the only one of its kind. It used to be an empty warehouse which Breytenbach and his team over the years have converted into a theatre.

It also boasts a ballet school and a world-class acting school, which has seen several students progress to the mainstream industry.

Breytenbach, who paid for his studies by teaching students the art of drama, in 2012 decided to renovate an abandoned restaurant after one of the community members approached him with the idea to open a permanent cultural space on the East Rand.

With very limited funds, which he was planning to use as a deposit on a new car, and help from friends and drama students he coached at the time, LALT was born.

Since then the theatre has changed the face of the East Rand’s artistic scene by playing host to more than 250 shows and charity functions, drawing celebrities from all over the country to perform at this wonderful theatre, where one may come in as a stranger but leave as a friend.

“With 2017 being the five-year celebration of our little miracle, I wanted to do something special and something that I have been dreaming about since I started this journey as a young adult,” Breytenbach said.

That is why the theatre is ruffling its feathers to start a brand-new journey.

• Help break a Guinness World Record

The current venue, situated in the Terminal Lifestyle Centre, will be hosting one final show before the big move and the grand relaunch of the new LALT Theatre House, on August 4, at 7pm.

This show will be a showcase of some of its finest students along with The Voice SA’s Armand Joubert.

There will, of course, be lots of entertainment, refreshments and good food to ensure a proper closing ceremony as Boksburg celebrates the end of a journey and the birth of a brand-new era of entertainment and education.

Entrance to the event is free, although the theatre encourages patrons to bring a donation in the form of coins to the event in an attempt to set a new Guinness World Record for the most amount of coins collected in one evening.

“Proving that everyone can afford theatre, everyone can be part of theatre and everyone can work together to build a brand-new theatre serving the community, and helping those students who have a dream to reach it,” Breytenbach said.

The #coinsforchange event is a final fund-raiser towards the completion of the building of the new academy.

For more information, email liveartstheatre@gmail.com