Sefton Henry Parry

Sefton Henry Parry (1832 – 18 December 1887) was a Victorian theatre manager, and remarkably versatile. He was a competent actor, comedian and playwright, could paint scenery, cut out dresses, and do stage-carpentering. He was also an innovator, successful theatre manager, speculator and builder of theatres.

In his early days he travelled widely and by the age of 23 had performed in England, America, Australia and South Africa.

In June 1855, he visited Cape Town, ostensibly for a stopover on the way home to England from Australia. He stayed two months, constructed his first theatre and presented a number of performances. He returned several times to Cape Town and between 1857 and 1863 built two theatres, established the first professional theatre company and introduced the first seasonal pantomime. Parry is recognised as playing an important role in the development of English professional theatre in South Africa. Returning to England, he set up home in Greenwich, built a theatre there in 1864 and, over the next twenty years, built three more in London and two in the provinces.

Sefton Parry, born in London in 1832, was the youngest child of John and Martha Parry, a theatrical family. In his earliest travels.he had been described as one of the leading attractions at Barnum's Museum in New York. Parry's wife, Elizabeth, an actress, was born in Philadelphia. In 1854 Parry briefly visited Cape Town on his way to Australia where he performed at Geelong and Melbourne. He was lionised by the Australian theatre-goers and well rewarded. Despite his English birth, he was described by the Australian correspondent of The Era as an American comedian.

In 1855, returning to England from Australia, and accompanied by his wife Elizabeth, Parry arranged to stop over a little while longer in Cape Town. Deciding the local Garrison Theatre was unsuitable for his use, he quickly constructed what he named the Drawing Room Theatre inside a large room in the Commercial Exchange building. It had 350 seats and was fitted up on the same model as the Reuben's Room in Windsor Castle. The first official performance was on Wednesday, June 13 when he put on Dion Boucicault's comedy, Used Up, or The Peer and the Ploughboy and the farce Family Jars by Joseph Lunn. He and his wife played the leads, helped by members of the Garrison Amateur Company. Parry received a rapturous welcome, and this persuaded him to stay longer.

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