9 Best Performing Arts Venues in Cape Town, South Africa

Cape Town's large-scale government-owned performing arts venue is where you come for opera, ballet, and contemporary dance shows, large-scale musicals, comedy, cabaret, and all manner of theatrical performances, including daytime children's productions during school holidays. Opened in 1971, it includes an opera house that seats more than 1,400, a theater auditorium seating more than 500, and a fringe space seating more than 100.

Known for defiantly presenting multiracial performances at the height of apartheid, and for staging the first-ever interracial kiss on a South African stage (in a 1985 production of Miss Julie), the Baxter is one of South Africa's most important cultural centers. With five different performance venues, including one that is effectively backstage, on the "other side" of the main theater, there is somehow always an incredible buzz at this bustling university-owned and therefore "independent" arts institution. Since it opened in the 1970s, it's been a hub for small and innovative productions as well as major shows. Its busy program includes everything from an annual monthlong stand-up comedy festival to dance, opera, ballet, music concerts, intimate one-person and large-cast productions, and a yearly pre-Christmas gift market. There are several bars, a vegetarian Indian restaurant, and plenty of free parking.

Music, especially jazz and African music, was an extremely potent instrument for social change during the oppressive apartheid regime. South Africans remain passionate about music, and they celebrate their love of jazz with the Cape Town International Jazz Festival, usually held in late March or early April. Started in 1999, this event is arguably the best weekend of the year in Cape Town. There's an even mix of local and international stars, and past festivals have included the likes of Randy Crawford; Abdullah Ibrahim; Hugh Masekela; Ismael Lo; Earth, Wind & Fire; and Ladysmith Black Mambazo.

This theater is named after legendary and internationally renowned playwright Athol Fugard, who was at the heart of the protest theater movement in 1980s apartheid South Africa. Anything cutting edge and politically relevant arrives at the Fugard. The 320-seat theater itself sits on the edge of the historical and oh-so politically relevant District Six area.

From late November to early April, enjoy the best in South African music, from African to classical to electronica, at outdoor concerts on Sundays at Kirstenbosch Summer Sunset Concerts. It's a Cape Town summer institution, not to be missed.

The Baxter Theatre Complex, part of the University of Cape Town, hosts a range of productions from serious drama to satirical comedies, as well as some rather experimental stuff. The complex includes a 666-seat theater, a concert hall, a smaller studio, and a restaurant and bar.

The Labia is a local gem - an independent art house and Cape Town institution that screens good-quality mainstream and alternative films. There are four screens at the Labia on Orange and two at the Labia on Kloof, just up the road. A small coffee bar serves snacks and wine at both venues.

During the summer, when the weather's good, Cape Town has its own version of New York City's Central Park's Shakespeare in the Park at the excellent Maynardville Open-Air Theatre. Theatergoers often bring a picnic supper to enjoy before the show.

The most current local and international productions are put on here. One of South Africa's best theaters, it was started and is still run by renowned local impresario Bobby Heaney. The location across the road from Camps Bay is great. Ruby Wax loved performing here so much that she bought a house down the road.