Die Selfmoordenaar

Die Selfmoordenaar (The Suicide) is a 1928 play by Soviet dramatist and screenwriter Nikolai R. Erdman (1900-1970).

The original text
Die Selbstmörder was first performed in 1969, forty years after being written, in Göteborg, Sweden.

Translations and adaptations
Translated into Afrikaans from the German (Die Selbstmörder) by André P. Brink, entitled Die Selfmoordenaar. Full-length. Cast: mixed.

The Suicide was first translated into English by Peter Tegel and premiered by the Royal Shakespeare Company at The Other Place, Stratford, on June 13, 1979.

Performance history in South Africa
The first production of Die Selfmoordenaar outside Europe was by CAPAB at the Nico Malan Theatre opening 11 May 1973, directed by Pieter Fourie with Johan Malherbe as Semjon, also starring Sandra Kotzé, Nerina Ferreira, Louw Verwey, Marie Pentz, Schalk Jacobsz, Cobus Rossouw, Jan Prinsloo, Johann Botha, Mees Xteen, Joan Brink and Roberta Durrant. Decor by Raimond Schoop, costumes by Jenny de Swardt, stage manager Mavis Lilenstein. This production opened at the H.B. Thom Theatre on 7 June 1973.

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