GEORGE NEWS - A pint-sized woman who has intro-duced countless children to the magic of drama on the stage of the George Arts Theatre will soon be taking her final bow in George.
After 32 years in the city, Penny de Villiers (78) and her husband, Johan (76), will be retiring to Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal, at the beginning of December. The couple will settle into a cosy cottage in Newcastle - a place they once called home before moving to George in 1994.
Back then, Penny was deeply involved in local theatre and founded the Musical and Dramatic Society (Mads), where she taught drama, sang, hosted play readings and directed productions.
"We used to perform in the City Hall, where there was this huge clock that chimed every hour," she recalls with a laugh during an interview last week. "We had to time our performances around the dong-dong of that clock!"
After relocating to George in the 1990s, Penny auditioned for her first local production, Pool's Paradise - and from there, one show simply led to another. She began offering drama classes to children at the Liberty Church, passing on everything she had learnt over the years. "We used to perform at old age homes and did Christmas plays," she remembers.
More than a decade ago, Penny joined the Helen O'Grady Drama Academy where she continued nurturing young performers and sharing her passion for the arts. Her phone now overflows with photos - pantomimes, one-woman shows and countless productions - each a testament to her lifelong love of theatre.
"I always knew I wanted to be on stage," she says. "My Jewish grandmother on my mother's side, Rebecca Cohen, had the same love of the arts. She saw that in me and encouraged me to pursue drama, ballet and singing."
Penny as Mrs Eynsford-Hill in My Fair Lady.
Her grandfather, William Josiah West-wood, was a jeweller by trade, but also a popular ventriloquist. "We lived next door to my grandparents in Durban, where I grew up. I was an only child and spent many hours on my own - I just naturally gravitated towards theatre," Penny says.
Her grandfather, William Josiah Westwood, was a jeweller by trade, but also a popular ventriloquist.
Even after all these years, auditions remain her least favourite part of the process. "I'm not competitive," she admits. "I just like to do my thing on stage, and be happy."
Penny and Johan have two sons - André, who lives in Australia with his wife and the De Villiers' only grandchild, Thomas (13), and Jacques, their youngest son who will soon be relocating to Cape Town.
Of her family, Penny remains the only one with such a deep-rooted love of the stage - a love that has shaped not just her life, but those of the many young performers she's inspired along the way.
Penny de Villiers (née Allan) as an 18-year-old, a compère at Y'ettes Concert Party in Durban.
In the Vincent Primary School in East London (front, left), where she had to do her very first audition for a role for the school play.
Penny (middle) with her mother, Leonie Allan (left), grandmother, Rebecca Cohen (back, right) and aunt.
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