Heidi

Heidi is a classic Swiss children's tale by Johanna Spyri (1827-1901)[1]

The original text

Heidi is a beloved children's tale, published in German between 1880 and 1881 , originally appearing in two parts as Heidis Lehr- und Wanderjahre ("Heidi's Years of Wandering and Learning") and Heidi kann brauchen, was es gelernt hat ("Heidi can use what she has learned").

Translations and adaptations

Besides numerous film, TV and animated versions, there have been a few stage versions as well. (See the Wikipedia entry for example at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heidi.)

South African versions include:

A 1980s Heidi, Girl of the Alps, a 1974 Japanese anime[2] TV series, was dubbed into Afrikaans as Heidi and broadcast by the SABC. It was incredibly popular in South Africa during the late 1970s and early 1980s and had a number of re-runs.

Adapted by Wendy Bowman in 1983.

Adapted as an Afrikaans children's play called Heidi by Tjaart Potgieter.

Adapted as an Afrikaans musical pantomime called Heidi - Die Musiekblyspel ("Heidi - The Musical"), with book and lyrics by Francois Toerien, music by Mynie Grové and additional lyrics by Esther von Waltsleben.

Performance history in South Africa

1978: Staged by Theatre Workshop at the Film Trust Arena, Johannesburg, adapted and directed by Sybil Marks.

1979: Presented by North Durban Players at the Atholton Primary School Hall.

1980: Presented by Pretoria Theatre for Children at the Little Theatre, Pretoria and the Piet van der Walt Theatre, directed by Barbara Basel.

1983: Heidi adapted and directed by Wendy Bowman, presented at the Port Elizabeth Opera House.

2016: Heidi - Die Musiekblyspel premiered in South Africa at the Klein Karoo National Arts Festival (KKNK), directed by Toerien with musical direction by Dawid Boverhoff, the production starred Tobie Cronjé (Rottenmeier), Dawid Minnaar (Sesemann), Albert Maritz (Grandfather), Ilse Klink (Aunt Dete), Karli Heine (Heidi), Lynelle Kenned (Klara), Dean Balie (Peter), Jill Middlekop and Marlo Minnaar. Puppets for the production were created by Hansie Visagie. Set design Francois Toerien and Kosie Smit. The show won the KykNet Fiesta Award for Best Musical Production and Best Design.

Sources

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

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

https://www.nati.org.za/produksies/heidi/

https://za.pinterest.com/pin/333688653626212693/

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

Greyvenstein, Walter 1988. The history and development of children's theatre in English in South Africa. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Johannesburg: Rand Afrikaans University.

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