The sponsorship forms part of the company’s corporate social investment programme - the Heart of Gold Trust.
Andrew Golding, chief executive of the Pam Golding Property group, said, “The past two years have given us pause for reflection amid extremely challenging times, during which the pandemic and lockdown have had a devastating impact on South Africa’s and Africa’s economy, many individual businesses and citizens’ livelihoods.”
“As part of a series of Group initiatives, in this our 46th year of operation, we felt it appropriate firstly, to honour the legacy of our late founder and life president, Pam Golding, by acknowledging her love of the arts. We are delighted, therefore, to have concluded a five-year agreement pledging our support for the Baxter Theatre in Cape Town, which will see the Main 674-seater theatre renamed, The Pam Golding Theatre at The Baxter,” he continued.
Golding said that in addition to the sponsorship, this agreement also includes partnering and assisting The Baxter with as many of their initiatives as possible, incorporating, for example, their development initiatives and supporting the Baxter Coffee Angels fundraising campaign.
Baxter CEO and artistic director Lara Foot explained, “There is serendipity between the relationship and partnership of The Baxter and Pam Golding Properties. Pam Golding Properties is in the business of marketing homes in the Western Cape, the rest of South Africa and globally, and The Baxter is in the business of providing a home for artists and audiences of Cape Town and the surrounding areas.”
“Together we will build an even more beautiful ‘home’, the Pam Golding Theatre at The Baxter, which will house all our artists and their dreams. We will strive towards building a better future through the arts - one with an enriching and deepening value of humanity, of convivial discourse and which values a safe space for the arts to thrive. Welcome to The Pam Golding Theatre, at The Baxter,” Foot continued.
The Baxter Theatre Centre came into being in 1977, as the result of a bequest from the late Dr W Duncan Baxter who bequeathed an amount of money to the University of Cape Town for the purpose of establishing a theatre that would, in his words, “develop and cultivate the arts in Cape Town and the adjacent districts”.
During the apartheid era, and leveraging its strong relationship with UCT, the theatre was able to present multiracial, progressive work at a time when all other non-racial interactivity was banned or censored.
Located at the foot of UCT in the Southern Suburbs, The Baxter includes a world-class theatre, concert hall, studio, as well as its intimate Masambe and Flipside theatres, garden, rehearsal rooms, offices, a restaurant and bars and an impressive spacious foyer.
The launch of the Pam Golding Theatre at The Baxter will be celebrated with a special performance from Marc Lottering, with his latest show, Uncle Marc, which runs from 11-28 May 2022.
