Die Plaasvervangers

Die Plaasvervangers ("The Substitutes") is a political play by Pieter Fourie (1940-).

Not to be confused with the Afrikaans thriller Die Plaasvervangers (1975) by I.D. Lamprecht.

The original text
Die Plaasvervangers is a political play about the roots and future of the Afrikaner and contained inflammatory scenes depicting such contentious matters as miscegenation, homosexuality, and the like. It was written as a commissioned work for the Oude Libertas Foundation in 1977, published by Perskor in 1978, and first performed in December of the same year. The play received some good reviews, especially the text, though not all critics were equally enthusiastic about it. The production was not well attended however, according to Luwes (2012: 224-5). Because of the critical content, the first production also led to a warning from the then Administrator of the Cape Province (and ex-officio Chairman of the CAPAB board), Dr Lapa Munnik, that the Cape Performing Arts Board would lose its subsidy if it continued doing such plays. As a result all further planned performances were banned after an initial run of 19 performances. This led to a furore in the press and an increasing and widely expressed dissatisfaction with and rebellion against censorship among artists of all kinds.

Performance history in South Africa
1978: First performed by CAPAB in the Nico Malan Theatre, opening in December of that year. Directed by Pieter Fourie, with Anna Neethling-Pohl as "Die Kampmoeder", Anna Cloete, Pieter Bredenkamp, Pieter Geldenhuys, Christo Pienaar, Willem de la Querra, Mees Xteen, Johan Botha, Marko van der Colff, Paul Slabolepszy, André Rossouw, Lida Meiring, Tom Holms, Brümilda van Rensburg, Mark Banks, Elizabeth Archer.

2010: Performed by students of the University of the Free State Drama Department directed by Stephanie Brink at the Wynand Mouton Theatre opening 23 March 2010.

Return to
Return to PLAYS I: Original SA plays

Return to PLAYS II: Foreign plays

Return to PLAYS III: Collections

Return to PLAYS IV: Pageants and public performances

Return to South African Festivals and Competitions

Return to The ESAT Entries

Return to Main Page