Jacques

Jacques ou La Soumission by Ionesco.

Jack, or The Submission (French: Jacques ou la soumission) is an absurd play by Romanian playwright Eugène Ionesco (1909-1994), the first of two (the second being The Future is in Eggs) about Jack and his family, all of whom are named after Jack (Father-Jack, Mother Jack, etc.).

The thrust of the narrative involves Jack's arranged marriage to Roberta and, when the first Roberta is not satisfactory, Roberta II. The play contains nonsensical exchanges and strings of clichés, similar to The Bald Soprano and the sort of surreal conceits (Roberta's multiple noses, for example) common in many of his later plays.

Performance history in South Africa
Jacques or Onderdanigheid was the official entry of the University of Stellenbosch Drama Department for the National Arts Festival Student Drama in 1989. André van der Merwe directed. The cast included Waldi Schultz, Catherine Fenix, Raél Mercuur and others.

Translations and adaptations
The play was translated into Afrikaans by Madeleine Barnard and adapted by André van der Merwe.

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