L'intruse

L'intruse (1890), ("The Intruder") is a one-act play by Maurice Maeterlinck (1862-1949).

The original text
This is the second play Maeterlinck wrote, and is a symbolist work which deals with man's conflict with preternatural forces, against which he is powerless. First performed at Paul Fort's Theatre d'Art in Paris on May 20, 1891, as part of a benefit for Paul Gauguin and Paul Verlaine. First published in a Belgian periodical in 1890 and then with Les Aveugles in the collection entitled Les Aveugles by P. Lacomblez in Bruxelles in 1892.

Translations and adaptations
Translated into English as The Intruder by Richard Hovey and published a number of times (1894. 1896, 1911 and 1914) by Dodd, Mead and Company in a collection containing The Intruder, The Blind, The Seven Princesses, and The Death of Tintagiles.

Translated into English by John Heard and published in Five Modern Plays by in 1936.

Translated into Afrikaans as Die Indringer by by W.E.G. Louw and N.P. van Wyk Louw. Text available at the Stellenbosch University Library, Manuscripts Section, reference MS 31/16/9.

South African performances
1935: Performed in Afrikaans as Die Indringer at the Little Theatre Cape Town in translation by members of the Kaapstadse Afrikaanse Toneelvereniging in 1935 for the University of Cape Town branch of the Afrikaanse Nasionale Studentebond. Directed by Marguerite I. Murray, with W.E.G. Louw as stage manager.

1956: The Intruder was presented by the University of Cape Town's Speech and Drama Department in September at the Little Theatre, directed by Leonie Pienaar. 1997: Produced in English under the title The Intruder, at the National Arts Festival,  directed by Lindsay Reardon.

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