John Ferguson

John Ferguson is a play by St John Ervine (1883-1971).

The original text
Written in 1915, first performed at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin on 30 November 1915 and published by Macmillan and Co. in 1919.

Translations and adaptations
Translated into Afrikaans as Absalom my Seun! (“Absolom my son!”) by *** (Also found as Absalom, my Seun!)

After his break with André Huguenet, Pierre de Wet developed an Afrikaans play, Pinkie, based on the leading character of the son (and similar characters from other plays) and successfully performed it throughout South Africa with his own company (1942-1944), featuring himself and Paula Styger. In 1946 de Wet made a popular film of it, called Pinkie se Erfenis ("Pinkie's Inheritance"),, featuring Paula Styger, Gideon Roos, Esther Mentz and Gert van den Bergh.

Performance history in South Africa
1942: Produced as Absalom my Seun! by André Huguenet and Pierre de Wet, starring, among others, Antonius Ferreira.

Huguenet broke with de Wet and continued to tour and Huguenet’s Teatergroep toured widely and to great success with it in South Africa and South-West Africa (now Namibia). Johann Nel also starred in the play.

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