Fuente Sagrada

Fuente Sagrada ("sacred spring") is an Afrikaans one-act play by Uys Krige (1910–1987).

The original text

The play, written in Afrikaans despite the Spanish title, is an indictment of the brutality of war and is set in the Spanish Civil War, with salvation of the central character, Marais, serving as a metaphor for the triumph of human dignity amidst the dehumanization brought about by war.

The Spanish title, taken from the name of a holy well of the same name, is intertextually reminiscent of course of Lope de Vega's masterly play Fuente Ovejuna (1612), which recounts the late-fifteenth-century uprising of an Andalusian village against an abusive military commander. In fact it had been a student performance of the De Vega play, seen by Krige at the Lope de Vega festival in Madrid in 1935, that inspired Krige to become a dramatist in the first place[1].

First published in Afrikaans in the collection Alle Paaie Gaan na Rome - Eenbedrywe by Unie-Volkspers in 1949 and later in Die Wit Muur en Ander Eenbedrywe by J.L. van Schaik in 1983. Also included in other collections over the years.

Translations and adaptations

Translated into English by the author himself, using the same title, and published in The Sniper and Other One-act Plays by HAUM in 1964.

Performance history in South Africa

1960s: Performed by the Libertas Teaterklub and/or the Universiteitsteater Stellenbosch in Stellenbosch, with a cast that included Pieter Grobbelaar.

Sources

Ludwig Wilhelm Berthold Binge 1969. Ontwikkeling van die Afrikaanse toneel (1832-1950). Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik.

Sydney Paul Gosher. 1988. A Historical and Critical Survey of the South African One-act Play Written in English. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Pretoria: University of South Africa.

Geoffrey O'Brien. 2023. Lope Lives! The New York Review of Books [2]

Erika Terblanche. 2022. "Uys Krige, (1910–1987)"ATKV/LitNet-Skrywersalbum [3]

Go to ESAT Bibliography