John Ferguson

John Ferguson is a play by St John Ervine [1] (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.

1942: Huguenet broke with de Wet and he and his his Teatergroep continued to tour widely and to great success with Absalom my Seun! in South Africa and South-West Africa (now Namibia). Johan Nell also starred in the play.