The Labia Theatre Turns 75: A Conversation with Ludi Kraus – Episode 1

Welcome to Talking Movies. A beloved Cape Town landmark has been a hub for arts and culture for 75 years now, and to celebrate its anniversary, I sat down with Ludi Kraus at the Labia Theatre to find out more about the cinema, its evolution, and some of the stories that make up its curious history.

Ludi, such a wonderful occasion. This, the 75th anniversary of the Labia Theatre, I can’t believe five years ago was when we were celebrating the 70th. Can you believe it?

I also thought the 70th seemed around the corner and now we’re busy with the 75th. They say time flies when you’re having fun.

That’s the magic of cinema, isn’t it? All the dreams and illusions coming to the big screen. What are some of the other memorable moments for the Labia?

Well, I started here in 1989. The Labia, of course, opened on the 16th of May, 1949, opened by Princess Labia. She declared it an event for the performing arts, and it’s remained in the arts for the last 75 years. Originally, it was mainly plays. Films were slowly introduced in 1975, and when I started in 1989, I decided that I didn’t know much about theatre.

I don’t know how much I know about cinema, but I decided to go the cinema route. It didn’t really work as both a theatre and a cinema. There were compromises on both sides, which really affected the quality of the presentation. So we decided to go the cinema route. We made a lot of changes. We brought the screen into the cinema. We only had the one venue at the time, which is now screen one. We took out every other seat because you sat with your knees under your chin and we slowly added the upstairs, which was a rehearsal room. We added screen three, which was a double story garage. We converted the backstage area into screen four.

Then over the last years, we introduced the terrace. Biata runs that. So in a way, we’ve come a long way, but very often I say to myself, what have I done in all these 35 years? Because there’s still so much to do. Obvious things which one would have thought one would have done 35 years ago, we’re only doing now. I mean, screen two now, our upstairs cinema, is finally, after 35 years, looking like a cinema. We refurbished our screens a month or two ago. I think that they very much improved.

I suppose one of the highlights was the introduction of digital, whereby we unfortunately, and fortunately got rid of our film projectors. Of course, there was a lot of nostalgia connected to these projectors, but the introduction of digital not only gave us a much better picture and a much better sound, it gave us a huge option to the availability of films.

Are there any special events or celebrations planned for the 75th anniversary?

So the Labia opened 75 years ago on the 16th of May, 1949. We’re having a red carpet advanced screening of Richard Linklater’s latest film called Hitman, which is a noir comedy action film, well-written, well-acted, starring Glenn Powell who’s become very popular, particularly as it should appeal both to young and old alike.

In addition to that and to the Ennio Morricone tribute, I suddenly, a while ago, thought about maybe one of the greatest directors ever. Billy Wilder was way ahead of his time. He made so many films that today are regarded as among the best films of all time. So we’re going to do a Billy Wilder celebration.

Amazing.

And we’re having Sunset Boulevard, which I don’t think is ever shown in Cape Town, South Africa. I think it came out before I was born, 1950, if I remember correctly. And then, of course, an old Labia favourite, Marilyn Monroe and Jack Lemmon in Some Like It Hot. And then Jack Lemmon again and Shirley MacLaine in The Apartment.

It’s a great one.

So that’s more or less sums up the special films for the celebration period. We, of course, then have our normal forms, which we’ll also be showing at the end of it. And to coincide with the opening of Furiosa, the fifth in the Mad Max series, we will have a red carpet screening that Friday night.

Sunset Boulevard is actually one of my top four films of all time. So I’m really looking forward to seeing that on the big screen. I hope that’s on the biggest screen. But Billy Wilder, I agree with you in that sentiment. Someone who was ahead of his time, has created a lot of timeless classics that still hold true today. I mean, that Sunset Boulevard is a film that I think inspired the career of David Lynch, because it’s talking about Hollywood at a time of old Hollywood meets new Hollywood. And it’s also the idea of things aren’t quite what they seem.

A big thank you to our patrons. They really have kept the library alive over the last 75 years. Without them, we would have been and would be nothing. I can’t express how much I appreciate the support of our patrons.

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