Des Lindberg
“…The youth is the key – if the youth don’t go to the theatre there won’t be a theatre in 10 years time…”
Dawn Lindberg
“…Learn every aspect of the industry… And take every single job that comes your way – just say YES…”
They were the darlings of the sixties: icons of their generation, long haired hippies who strummed their guitars and sang songs of freedom and of love. They made the dimly lit, smoky Troubadour Club in Doornfontein a Mecca for like-minded free thinkers. Arlo Guthrie and Bob Dylan their mentors; justice their cause.
They bought a caravan and hit the road for three long years singing in every dorp from Bredasdorp to Wakkerstroom and Messina – to Bulawayo and Salisbury in Rhodesia, songs an entire generation can still sing in full-throated exuberance today, “Die Gezoem van die Bye”, “The Seagull’s Name was Nelson” …
Flower children, deeply stung by the shame of Apartheid, they looked for ways to defy the system. It came in the guise of the gospel musical Godspell. They opened with a multiracial caste in Maseru, Lesotho, in 1973. In South Africa, at the Wits University Great Hall it was immediately banned on the grounds of “blasphemy” – the real issue was the racially mixed caste. The Lindbergs challenged the banning in the Supreme Court, and won their case.
In 45 years of entertaining, they have stood together in the teeth of political threats, never shied away from controversy, Best Little Whorehouse in Texas brought mutters of ‘smut’; The Vagina Monologues raised eyebrows but they never baulked at criticism.
Today Des still writes songs and lyrics prolifically and Dawn is the proud founder and Executive Director of the Naledi Theatre Awards.
They have two sons, Joshua and Adam.
Dawn passed away on the 8th December 2020
