Joan Brink

Joan Brink (1920-2009) was an actress, director and translator.

Biography

Born Johanna Cornelia Schoon on 19 December 1920 in Wolmaranstad, the daughter of Willem Schoon. Her mother died when she was 12 and is buried in Wolmaranstad, so it is a reasonable assumption that she was schooled there until she was at least 12 years old. Her father was an inspector of schools so it is possible they moved around after her mother died, but according to her son she never mentioned any other schools. Schoon and his second wife Mabel lived in Lichtenburg.

Having completed her schooling, she went on to tertiary studies, gaining a Masters in English (University of Stellenbosch, 1942), followed by a senior teacher’s diploma (University of Pretoria, 1945) and a Licentiateship in Speech and Drama (University of South Africa, 1956).

Joan married the architect Christiaan Strauss Brink (1920-1992)[1] in 1946 and the couple had two children, Helene "Lienkie" Elizabeth van der Merwe (1948-2025) and Basil Neil Brink (1952-). They initially lived at 1171 School Lane, Hatfield, Pretoria till July 1965, when they moved to Cape Town.

From the 1950s to 1965, besides her theatre and media career outlined below, she taught English at various schools in Pretoria on a part-time basis and in Cape Town she became involved with the Drama Department at the University of Cape Town.

She passed away in Johannesburg on 30 July 2009.

Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance

As actress

She appeared in a number of productions for the National Theatre Organisation (NTO), including Gister en Vandag (NTO, 1953) and 'n Bruid in die Môre (NTO, 1959),

In 1961 the Brink family went to Rome for six months. Joan met Anthea Kearney, an actress who asked her to act in Dark of the Moon in the theatre of the Play Guild of Rome. Joan played Mrs. Summey and Anthea Mrs. Bergen. The play was written by Howard Richardson and William Berney in 1942.

On her return she worked for the Performing Arts Council of the Transvaal (PACT) and had roles in Die Dubbelbed (PACT 1964) and Twaalfde Nag (PACT, 1964),

After she and her family had moved to Cape Town on the 1970s, she appeared for the Cape Performing Arts Board in plays like Die Selfmoordenaar (CAPAB, 1973), The King's Mare (CAPAB, 1967) and The Seagull (as "Irina Arkadina").

As translator and director

Over the years she often combined the roles of translator and director. Among the plays were:

In 1957 she directed Molière's comedy Le Tartuffe which she had adapted and translated into Afrikaans (possibly entitled Hoe Kaler Jonker) for the Pro Arte student society at the University of Pretoria (founded in 1942 and affiliated with the School of Drama).

In 1958 she directed her Afrikaans version of A Midsummer Night's Dream for Pro Arte.

In the early 1960s Joan translated the French play Piège pour un homme seul into Afrikaans as Lokval vir 'n Man Alleen, a popular play that was staged in various theatres throughout South Africa from 1963 to 1975. (Her son, Basil Brink, recalls that it was also broadcast by the Afrikaans radio station of the SABC.)

In 1963 she directed Lugkastele in the Aula at the University of Pretoria. Basil Brink recollects that she made use of slide images that were projected on diaphanous screens, an innovation at the time. Marga van Rooy (1942-2017) had the leading role in the play.

Dream Girl Joan Brink

In the 1970s she also directed the Biblical play Ek is Simon in the St George’s Cathedral

Other theatre-related activities

In the 1970s while in Cape Town Joan was an external examiner of UCT drama students at the Little Theatre and did some film work, including a minor role in Charlie Word 'n Ster (1979, directed by Dirk de Villiers) that was filmed in Cape Town.

There is no record on the internet of Joan’s other theatre-related activities in Cape Town during the 1970s.

As translator

She translated A Midsummer Night's Dream into Afrikaans and directed the play for the Pro Arte students of the University of Pretoria.

She adaptated Molière's comedy Le Tartuffe into Afrikaans (possibly entitled Hoe Kaler Jonker). Presented by the Pro Arte Kunsvereniging, University of Pretoria, directed by Joan Brink, July 1957.

Lokval vir 'n Man Alleen (Piege Pour Un Homme Seul) translated by her (DALRO 1968).

Awards, etc

Sources

Outline of Joan Brink’s theatrical career by her son Basil Brink. 05 September 2025 Available: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bBd879ymbr6_Zgd49nxvwhqzTiTY22Xh/view?usp=sharing

Basil Brink. A work-in-progress biographical outline about Christiaan Strauss Brink (1920-1992) in Artefacts (Available at https://artefacts.co.za/main/Buildings/archframes.php?archid=2952)

ESAT. 2023. Piège pour un homme seul. Stellenbosch University. 20 December [Online]. Available https://esat.sun.ac.za/index.php/Pi%C3%A8ge_pour_un_homme_seul

ESAT. 2017. Joan Brink. ESAT. Stellenbosch University. 10 April. [Online]. Available: https://esat.sun.ac.za/index.php/Joan_Brink

Green, A. 2024. A day in the life of the University of Pretoria. 26 February 1958. Perdeby, 26 February 1958 © UP Archives. [Online]. Available: https://www.up.ac.za/up-archives/news/post_2954480-a-day-in-the-life-at-the-university-of-pretoria.-26-february-1958.

Skakelblad. 1963. Pro Arte. Publication by University of Pretoria.

The Play Guild of Rome. Opening Presentation of The Summer 1960-1961 Season. The Play Guild of Rome. (Dark of the Moon Programme).

Twaalfde Nag programme notes, 1964

Various entries in the NELM catalogue.

Go to ESAT Bibliography