Within the Law

Within the Law is a play by American playwright, screenwriter, producer and film director Bayard Veiller (1869-1943). A play about a woman who is wrongly accused of stealing, is sent to prison and is eventually able to clear her name. It was premiered in 1912 and eventually became a huge commercial success.

Translations and adaptations
Translated into Afrikaans, entitled Onskuldig Veroordeel.

There were at least four film versions, with Alice Joyce (1917), Norma Talmadge (1923), Joan Crawford (1930) and Ruth Hussey (1939).

Performance history in South Africa
In South Africa it was presented by Leonard Rayne, first in 1918 with Madge Fabian and again in 1925 featuring Freda Godfrey.

In 1929 a translation of it, Onskuldig Veroordeel, was produced in Afrikaans by the Hanekom Company and was enormously popular as it toured throughout the country. The lead role was played by Wena Naudé and Siegfried Mynhardt started his career as actor in this production.

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