Curse of the Starving Class

Curse of the Starving Class is a play by Sam Shepard (1943-2017) [1]

The original text

A play in three acts that contains themes such as the individual's starving for identity and the predatory nature of the norms set by society form the basis of the play.

First performed in London in April 1977. Published in Plays Two by Sam Shepard, Faber & Faber, 1997.

Translations and adaptations

Vloek van die Verhongerdes, a translation into Afrikaans by Marco van der Colff. First performed in Namibia in 1980.

Performance history in South Africa

1980: Vloek van die Verhongerdes performed in Windhoek by SWAPAC, directed by Peter Kleinschmidt with Lochner de Kock, George Ballot, Mees Xsteen, Dirk Vermeulen, Margaret Fölscher, Marié Human, Cobus Strydom and Jakkie Groenewald. Costume and set design by Peter Kleinschmidt, lighting by Hans Reinhardt.

1986: Presented in English by CAPAB at the Nico Arena opening 21 January 1986, directed and designed by Marthinus Basson, with Antoinette Kellermann (Ella), Neels Coetzee (Weston), Margaretha Fischer (Emma), David Dennis (Taylor), Phillip Boucher (Ellis), Owen de Jager (Malcolm/Slater), Mark Fleishman (Emmerson) and David Tomsu (Wesley). Lighting Malcolm Hurrell.

1994: The Rhodes University Drama Department Honours student production was directed by Adam Neill in August.

2018: A Woordfees production was directed by Sylvaine Strike, starring Neil McCarthy, Rob van Vuuren, Leila Henriques, Roberto Pombo, Anthony Coleman, Inge Crafford-Lazarus and Damon Berry. Set design by Chen Nakar and Andrea van der Kuil, lighting design by Mannie Manim, costumes by Andrea van der Kuil and Sylvaine Strike. Stage manager Loren Nel.

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_the_Starving_Class

Copies of the Programme, the August 1980 edition of SWAPAC News and various other articles and reviews on the 1980 Windhoek production of Vloek van die Verhongerdes. (Contained in the George Ballot scrapbooks, donated to the PARC research collection at the Africa Open Institute for Music, Research and Innovation, Stellenbosch, by Prof Muller Ballot[2].)

Curse of the Starving Class programme, 1986.

Various entries in the NELM catalogue relating to the 1994 production of Curse of the Starving Class.

Woordfees 2018 programme book, p. 152.

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