THE BARNYARD THEATRE, HISTORY IN THE MAKING

Louis and Sybel Möller had both been involved in the performing arts most of their lives, Louis as co-founder and producer of, amongst others, Carte Blanche, and Sybel Coetzee as a freelance actress and TV presenter.

In 1989 they took stock of their hectic lives and decided that with two young boys they had to change the pace of their lives. They got out of the rat race and went into dairy farming in the Plettenberg Bay area. After a few years of farming they sought a way to combine their two loves – the footlights and the farm. They decided to convert the beautiful, rustic American-style wooden barn that Louis had built into a theatre. The old-world atmosphere, heavy wooden beams, a horseshoe gallery, big tables with welcoming lanterns and wood chips on the floor were perfect for an informal theatre experience. Thus the Barnyard Theatre was born and opened its first show in 1996.

In 2003 Louis joined forces with well-known South African musician Duck Chowles and together they formed The Barnyard Theatre Production Company. Duck had produced, amongst others, the mega-hit musical Roll Over Beethoven, and Louis instinctively knew Duck belonged in the Barnyard stable. Duck Chowles now directs and produces all Barnyard Theatre Productions.

Barnyard's in-house production company employs a large number of musicians and performers who have a wide variety skills and talents. At any given time there are at least 8 different shows running at Barnyard Theatres across the country. The Barnyard Theatre believes in growing and supporting local talent. One of the shows, Under African Skies, has been performed at over 80 theatres in Belgium, Holland, France and Denmark. Barnyard shows have also been staged in the Middle and Far East, as well as at Sun City one of South Africa's premier entertainment hubs.

Barnyard Theatre music shows transcend boundaries – they're vibrant, uplifting and highly entertaining. The Barnyard Production team identifies talent, hones their skills and gives performers the opportunity to earn a living doing what they love and do best.

The Barnyard Theatre has become the venue of choice for many well-known companies for their corporate functions, teambuilding, conferences and launches.

As part of its social responsibility to the community The Barnyard Theatre group also offers fundraising opportunities by offering companies and NPOs a reduced ticket rate, enabling them to re-sell at a profit to raise funds for their cause.

At inception Louis realized the Barnyard theatres required equipment that would need minimal maintenance and that could stand the test of time. Therefore he invested in Martin Professional Intelligent Lighting because of its reputation for producing high quality and durable products. Other generic and dimming products were also purchased from Electrosonic SA, which offers a full lighting solution for theatre productions.

Over the last fifteen years The Barnyard Theatre Production Company has grown in leaps and bounds as a result of their great concept of providing good, clean family entertainment in a relaxed and casual environment. Their motto says it all: "The Barnyard Experience: friendship, good food, wine and brilliant entertainment!" Patrons are encouraged to share a meal with family and friends, tap their feet and dance to the live entertainment provided by top notch performing artists. Patrons are seated at heavy wooden tables and have the option of bringing their own picnic baskets or ordering Pizzas from the venue. Each theatre has a fully stocked cash bar and coffee station. This homegrown success story was recently accredited as a member of "Proudly South African".

A recent departure from the tried and tested recipe was The Barnyard Group's decision to open up Barnyard Rivonia. It is unlike any of the other Theatres, mainly due to its size. Barnyard Rivonia was purpose-built from scratch. Barnyard has a long-standing relationship with Electrosonic SA as its provider of high quality lighting products, and automatically included them in the discussion when deciding what equipment they required to continue the growth and success of the Barnyard Theatre Group.

The negotiations began and orders were placed. LED Technology was implemented to cut back on lamp replacements on 1kW Parcans. Dimmers were cut back and Versa-Light high powered LED Parcans were supplied along with Mac250s and K1 Hazers. To control it all the incomparable Martin M1 Controller was supplied. At the same time they decided to upgrade the rig at Barnyard Cresta similarly by replacing 1kwParcans with Versa-Light High Powered LED Parcans, adding extra Mac250s to their existing ones and of course upgrading the controller to the Martin M1 Controller to standardize Lighting Controllers across their venues.

In another startling move Barnyard Theatres decided to close down Barnyard Menlyn and move it to Parkview in Pretoria. This will be an even bigger theatre with 3 galleries and a stage the size of most theatre spaces in the country. The LED technology had to be implemented like all the other venues and new Mac250s were purchased along with VersaLight LED Curtains and of course the Martin M1 Controller to match their sister venues.

Electrosonic would like to thank all who was involved in this project. A special thanks to Louis Moller, Seona Cochran, Ashleigh Bradford, Iris Pather and Tom Muller for your valued support. We do not want to leave out our good friends, Lebo, Lennin, Vusi , Albert and Kirsten who have mastered the Controller and have kept faith in the Martin Product as it has never let them down after all these years.

Equipment includes:

• 3 x Martin M1 Controllers
• 68 x Versalight High Powered RGB LED Parcans
• 14 x Mac250 Entours/Kryptons
• Versalight LED RGB SMX5050 Strip Lighting for Sets on Stage.
• K1 Haze Machine
• Martin 5:3 DMX Splitters
• 4 x Vision LED DMX Curtains 4x6