Mannie Manim

Manuel Manim (born July 1941), known as Mannie Manim, is a South African theatre administrator, producer and lighting designer. He co-founded Johannesburg's Market Theatre in 1976 and has worked for over six decades in South African and international theatre.^[1][2] Manim led major theatre institutions and toured South African productions abroad. He received numerous awards for his contributions, including the national Order of Ikhamanga (Silver).^[3]

Mannie Manim
Born	Manuel Manim July 1941 (age 84) Cape Town, South Africa
Occupation(s)	Theatre administrator, producer, lighting designer
Years active	1955–present
Known for	Co-founding the Market Theatre, Johannesburg
Notable work	Sizwe Banzi is Dead, The Island, Nothing but the Truth, Show Boat
Awards	Order of Ikhamanga (Silver), Naledi Lifetime Achievement Award, Chevalier of Arts and Letters (France)
Website	Market Theatre

Early life

Manim was born in July 1941 in Cape Town, Western Cape province of South Africa. He began his theatre career as a teenage usher at the Brook Theatre in Cape Town in 1955, and became a manager there after 5 years.^[4] In the early 1960s he moved to Johannesburg, serving as technical director at the newly opened Civic Theatre and later as head of drama at the Performing Arts Council of the Transvaal (PACT). In 1967 he became administrative head of PACT Drama. During this period he also worked in stage management and production, including Stephen Sondheim's A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum at the Civic).

He recognised the potential of non-racial theatre in apartheid South Africa, and in 1973 left PACT to co-found an independent company with Barney Simon committed to non-racial artistic practice.^[5]

Career

Founding of Market Theatre

In 1976 Manim and Barney Simon established the Market Theatre in Johannesburg, housed in the building of the old Indian Fruit Market (1913).^[6][7] As managing director of the Market Theatre from its founding to 1991, Manim oversaw the theatre's growth into an internationally recognised venue of anti-apartheid and culturally transformative work.^[8] Under his direction, the Market maintained a non-racial casting and audience policy, in defiance of apartheid laws.^[7]

The theatre company completed thirty-three international tours up to 1991. During this period, Manim also developed his reputation as an international lighting designer, working on productions that toured to Europe, North America, Australia and Japan.^[9]

Administrative work

In 1991, Manim left the day-to-day running of the Market Theatre and founded his own company, Mannie Manim Productions. Concurrently he became Director of Performing Arts Administration at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) from 1991 to 2000.^[10][4] In 2000, Manim was appointed CEO and Director of the Baxter Theatre Centre in Cape Town, serving until December 2009. During his tenure, he also served on numerous arts boards and festivals, including the National Arts Festival (Grahamstown) and was influential in mentoring new theatre practitioners.^[11] In 2010 he took up the role of executive director of the Fugard Theatre in Cape Town (2010–2012) and continues to be active in production and design roles.^[12] Manim also served on boards and festival committees, including the Standard Bank National Arts Festival and chaired the board of South Africa's major theatre institutions.^[13]

The Market Theatre has named a section after Manim called the Mannie Manim Theatre.^[14]

Lighting design

Manim has worked extensively as a lighting designer, both in South Africa and internationally. For example:

• He lit the first South African productions of many of Athol Fugard's plays.^[15]
• His lighting credits extend to productions such as The Island (National Theatre London / Old Vic / Toronto / Kennedy Center Washington / BAM New York) and Nothing but the Truth (Hampstead Theatre London / Lincoln Center New York / Mark Taper Forum Los Angeles / National Theatre Namibia).^[4]
• He was lighting designer for Show Boat (Cape Town Opera in Sweden), The Tempest (Baxter Theatre Centre).^[16]
• His international theatre design credits appear in programme notes for the Fugard Theatre productions The Road to Mecca, The Mother, Painted Rocks at Revolver Creek, just to mention a few.^[17]

Awards and honours

Manim has received many honours for his dual contributions in administration and technical/production craft:

• Shirley Moss Award (1980): for practical/technical contribution to South African theatre.
• South African Institute of Theatre Technology Award (1981).
• Ten Vita Awards for Best Original Lighting Design and first Vita Award for Most Enterprising Producer (mid-1980s).
• Chevalier, Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (French Government, 1990).
• Gold Medal for Theatre Development (South African Academy of Arts and Science, 1996).
• Naledi Lifetime Achievement Award (2004).^[18]
• Fleur du Cap Lifetime Achievement Award (2011) and Fleur du Cap Award for Best Lighting Design (2012).
• Arts & Culture Trust Lifetime Achievement Award for Theatre (2011).^[11]
• The national Order of Ikhamanga in Silver (2011) awarded by the President of South Africa for his excellent contribution to South African theatre and the arts.^[9]
• In 2016 the small studio venue at the Market Theatre was renamed the “Mannie Manim Theatre” in his honour.