In or around 1970, when the Department of Dramatic Art was about to open the following year, I was visited by John van Zyl and Art de Villiers, who had been appointed to the staff of the Dramatic Art Department. They were in a bit of a panic because notwithstanding that the Department was opening in a matter of a few weeks, no provision had been made for a performing venue.
Braamfontein Roman Catholic Church (The Heritage Portal)
The then Vice Chancellor, Bozzoli, had provided the church hall but it was necessary to make it more suitable for performances. The representatives of the Department came to see me in the hope that I would be able to do a design for the space. (I was teaching in the Department of Architecture.) I prepared a design and took it to Professor Bozzoli for his consideration.
I cannot remember exactly what the estimated cost was, but it was very little. However, Bozzoli was appalled and told me that I must ""be mad"" if I thought that the university would spend that amount of money for the few months that the venue was intended to be used. I asked how much he was prepared to spend and he named a figure of...
