Thank you for all you have done for the arts, Dawn Lindberg. May our country long-continue in bringing our unique stories to life through the arts, and may you rest in power as a South African icon who opened up the platform for us to do that.
South Africa (08 December 2020) – It is with deep sadness that South Africa has woken to the news that Dawn Lindberg – a South African icon who advocated for our arts – has passed away from a COVID-19 related illness.
One of the most prominent theatrical personalities and a household name in South Africa, the 75-year-old icon was also the founder and CEO of the Naledi Theatre Awards – one of the biggest and most prestigious awards events in South Africa.
Dawn studied Fine Arts at Wits University, and in 1962 she met her husband and long-time partner in music and theatre, Des Lindberg, who was studying Law at the time.
“He was like a gentle Viking,” she recalled in a recent interview, “tall, with blond hair falling over his eyes and a guitar slung over his back.”
By the mid-60s, Des had already established himself as a fine folk singer, and he achieved enormous success with an Afrikaans song, ‘Die Gezoem Van Die Bye’, which went to number one on the South African charts where it remained for 20 weeks.
In 1965, Des and Dawn were married; they then hit the road (literally) when they bought a caravan and toured South Africa and the then Rhodesia, visiting small towns and cities with their legendary show, Folk on Trek.
“There was no TV in those days, so to become known in the industry you had to go on the road and meet the people.”
The couple then embarked on a plan to help make a significant change to the country’s political thinking.
Their first album, Folk on Trek, was promptly banned on the grounds of obscenity because of dubious lyrics to the nursery rhyme, ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb’, and the Negro Spiritual, ‘Dese Bones Gonna Rise Again’. They went on appeal but lost the case, and all copies of the album were ordered to be destroyed – but some die-hards hid them, and thankfully, there are still copies in existence today. In 1973 they produced the groundbreaking musical, Godspell, the first multiracial show to be staged publicly in South Africa.
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With a segregated South Africa still existing, the show’s multiracial cast was forced to rehearse on the lawns of the Lindberg’s magnificent Victorian mansion for the grand opening at a theatre specially built for them at the Holiday Inn in Maseru, Lesotho.
Godspell & The Supreme Court
When they decided to bring the show to South Africa, it was promptly banned by the censors on the grounds of blasphemy. Des and Dawn took the case to the Supreme Court, and they won after the show was allowed one performance so that Judge Lammie Snyman and the censors’ legal team could view it.
Godspell went on to triumphantly tour the country for 18 months. It spearheaded the opening of theatres to all races in 1977, the first bastion of apartheid to fall.
The success of this production prompted the Lindbergs to move more into the theatrical arena and over the years staged a succession of musicals and plays that included Pippin; The Black Mikado (the first West End musical to premiere in Soweto); The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, (when the title was banned); and The Vagina Monologues about the abuse of women.
Living Legends
The Lindbergs have enjoyed a successful career as entertainers, punctuated by many hits that included ‘The Seagull’s Name was Nelson’ in 1971, which topped the charts for 20 weeks.
Dawn’s influence in the South African Theatre Industry has been far-reaching and significant: her greatest achievement has been the creation and nurturing of the internationally recognised Naledi Theatre Awards, which has honoured over 300 artists and theatre makers, and awarded over 60 Lifetime Achievement Awards.
She believed that “theatre and the arts are much more reflective of our current society and the demographics of the practitioners. New voices are telling our own stories and expressing our unique cultures through dance, music and the visual arts.”
May our country long-continue in bringing our unique stories to life through the arts, and may you rest in power as a South African icon who opened up the platform for us to do that.
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