The Play's the Thing

There are two plays by called The Play's the Thing that have been written or performed in South Africa.

=The Play's the Thing by Ferenc Molnár =

An English translation of the three act play Játék a kastélyban ("The play at the castle", 1924) by Hungarian playwright Ferenc Molnár (1878-1952).

The original text
The original play was first produced in Budapest in 1925.

Translations and adaptations
Literally translated into English as The Play in the Castle, the play has really become popular in English through two adaptations, the first one by P.G. Wodehouse under the title The Play's the Thing in 1926, and the second one Tom Stoppard's Rough Crossing in 1984.

Translated into Afrikaans (probably from the Wodehouse version) as Gekonkel in die Nag. ("Schemes in the night")

Performance history in South Africa
1943: Produced in English as The Play's the Thing by the Johannesburg Repertory Society, with Frank Douglass.

1956: Produced in Afrikaans as Gekonkel in die Nag by National Theatre Organisation starring, among others, Pieter Geldenhuys.

1987: Produced in English as Rough Crossing by Pieter Toerien, directed by Robert Whitehead, first performance 8 November. Design by Johan Engels, lighting by Jannie Swanepoel, André Previn's music directed by Peter McLea. The cast: John Whiteley, Tobie Cronjé, Mark Richardson, Neville Thomas, Fiona Ramsay, Robert Haber. Performed at the Alhambra Theatre and the Baxter Theatre.

The original text
An unpublished, undated typescript of a one-act play written by Jill Fletcher, and held by the author.