Die kortstondige raklewe van Anastasia W.

Die kortstondige raklewe van Anastasia W. ("The brief shelf-life of Anastasia W.") is a play with music by Marlene van Niekerk (1954-).

Not to be confused with the many plays and films about the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia (1901-1918) - usually referred to simply as Anastasia.

The original text

The title of the play refers to Anestacia Wiese, an 11-year-old girl from Mitchell's Plain in Cape Town, who was raped and murdered by her mother's boyfriend, Richard Engelbrecht in March 2007.

Set in a funeral parlour run by a pair of incestuous siblings, the play uses the event and the rape metaphor to undertake a wide ranging attack on the brutality and violence rife in South African society at the time of writing.

It is a highly contentious work that both enthralled and shocked audiences and divided critics and the public across the country, some praising it highly while others finding it utterly disgusting. (An excellent in-depth analysis of the play and the response to it - also that of the author - was published by Leon de Kock and Annel Pieterse in the South African Theatre Journal in 2012 and a Masters thesis in Music was done at Stellenbosch University by David Evan Wolfswinkel in March 2025.)

Translations and adaptations

Performance history in South Africa

2010: Premiéred in September 2010 at the Aardklop Kunstefees in Potschefstroom, produced by Hugo Theart for TEATERteater (in association with the Stellenbosch Drama Department), directed and designed by Marthinus Basson, with Nicole Holm (Sus), Eben Genis (Daan), Dean Balie (Savage) and Marlo Minnaar (Lovemore). Music by Braam du Toit and Gertjie Besselsen of Mr Cat and the Jackal, animation by Colijn Strydom [1]

2011: Performed at the KKNK festival in Oudstshoorn and had a run in the H.B. Thom Theatre, Stellenbosch.

Sources

Leon de Kock and Annel Pieterse. 2012. South African Theatre Journal, Vol 26/No 1: March 2012 - pp. 60-92.

David Evan Wolfswinkel. Violent Aesthetics in Marlene van Niekerk's Die Kortstondige Raklewe van Anastasia W.. Unpublished M.Mus. in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Stellenbosch University [2]

https://colijnstrydom.com/portfolio/animation-stills/

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