Final curtain call for Barnyard Theatre
THE CURTAIN is set to come down on The Barnyard Theatre at Gateway on December 31, when the venue will stage its final show. The popular mall theatre has become an institution with locals and holiday-makers alike after becoming the first fully-fledged commercial Barnyard franchise.
Fifteen years on and 105 major productions later, The Barnyard Theatre Productions, which owns and manages the franchise and produces the shows, served notice that it was terminating the franchise.
Debbie Davidson, the owner, said: “It is with a very heavy heart, and a great deal of sadness, that we have to inform our loyal patrons that The Barnyard Theatre at Gateway will be permanently closing its big wooden doors.
“The Barnyard Theatre Productions has informed us that they are terminating our franchise, a move which came as an enormous shock. After a desperate bid to keep the venue going for another year was unsuccessful. Unfortunately, we’ve reached the point where the show cannot go on.
“I’d like to thank our many loyal patrons who embraced the venue from the day the doors opened, who took ownership of it, and who have kept us going for more than 15 years. I’m sorry I’m no longer able to provide you with the entertainment, service and pizzas that kept you coming back. I’ll miss interacting with each of you. We’ve still got a jam-packed programme in the next month, so I’d love to see you for one last time before the curtain comes down for the final time.”
The theatre shook up the Durban supper-theatre scene when the 470-seater venue opened in 2001. Locals warmed to the informal venue. Just 11 months after opening, the theatre was the recipient of the Marketing Excellence Award from the Institute of Marketing Management. This was followed by Davidson being acknowledged for the role she has played in the venue’s success and was awarded the uMhlanga business personality of the year by the Durban Chamber of Commerce.
Durbanites showed concern and support when the theatre was damaged in a fire that shut it down for a week after the opening of its year-end show in October 2010.