Abällino der Grosse Bandit

Abällino der Grosse Bandit ("Abällino the Great Bandit") is a German 5-act German tragedy by Heinrich Zschokke (1771 - 1848)

The original text
Based on his own novel, Abällino der Grosse Bandit (1793) and it is in turn modelled on Schiller's Die Räuber. The play was first produced in 1794, published by Grätz Verlag, 1795.

Translations:
The full version translated into Dutch by Jan Steven van Esveldt Holtrop as Aballino de Groote Bandiet (also written Aballino, De Groote Bandiet). The Dutch version first performed 1796(?), first published by J. Dóll in Amsterdam in 1796.

Adaptations:
The play was adapted, much shortened, and totally rewritten as L'homme à Trois Visages, ou Le Proscrit ("The man with three faces, or the exile"),  a 3 act melodrama in French, by René-Charles Guilbert de Pixérécourt. First performed at the Théâtre de l'Ambigu-Comique in Paris in 1801.

The three-act version translated into Dutch as De Man in Drie Gedaanten, of De Balling ("The man in three guises, or the exile") by G.L.P. Sievers, and performed in 1801, simultaneously in Amsterdam with the French version in Paris. Published Amsterdam by J. Dóll, 1802.

Performance history in South Africa
1831: Performed in the shortened Dutch version (De Man in Drie Gedaanten, of De Balling), by Tot Nut en Vermaak in the African Theatre, Cape Town on 21 August, with Het Glas Water (Von Guttenberg) as afterpiece.

1835: Aballino de Groote Bandiet, the full Dutch version, performed in Cape Town by Vlyt en Kunst on 15 August, with Monsieur Tonson, of De Geplaagde Barbier (Moncrieffe).

1873: Aballino de Groote Bandiet, the full Dutch version, performed in the Odd Fellows' Hall, Cape Town by Door Ijver bloeit de Kunst (D.Y.b.d.K.) on 18 September.

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