Roy Sargeant

Roy Sargeant (1941-2021) Director, filmmaker, academic and teacher.

Biography

He attended Rondebosch Boys Preparatory School in Cape Town, and his first experience of theatre was there, playing the lead role in the pantomime Ali Baba. He then attended Rondebosch Boys High School. His interest in theatre and Shakespeare was encouraged at this time by school trips to Maynardville.

He passed away in Cape Town on 27 December, 2021.

Training

Sargeant graduated with a BA (Hons) in literature from UCT. During his time at university, he was actively involved in the University of Cape Town's Dramatic Society.

Career

After graduating, Roy worked initially as a producer of radio plays, before being approached to direct for CAPAB. He subsequently went on to work as a freelance theatre director, directing a large number of plays for varous amateur and professional companies, including the various Performing Arts Councils.

In 1969 and 1970, Guy Butler invited young Roy to direct two highly successful productions with the students of the Rhodes University Drama Department (Cape Charade or Kaatje Kekkelbek and Richard Gush of Salem). After a further six months as a leave replacement, thirty-one-year-old Roy was appointed the first Head of the Drama Department in 1973, and later Professor. Sargeant turned the department into one of the premier schools for training in the country. As head of the department he also played a major role in the establishment of the Grahamstown Festival and served on its planning committee for many years. The Student Drama Festival, the establishment of the Standard Bank Young Artist Awards and the Winter School were his brain children.

He left Rhodes University in 1982 to become the Head of English Drama at the SABC and later moved into working in the film industry. After producing the film adaptation of Athol Fugard's The Road to Mecca in 1991, he moved to Franschhoek near Cape Town, where he opened a restaurant ("Polfyntjies") with his partner, Paul Regenass.

From 1997, he was much involved with script development and enabling new artists in the region by his involvement with the Baxter Theatre as director of the Baxter Theatre’s successful Baxter Theatre New Writing Programme. A Writer's Last Word, staged at the Baxter Theatre, was its first commission. From 2001, the programme was run by Artscape as the Artscape New Writing Programme.

He founded his own production company, Roy Sargeant Productions. Under this banner he produced a number of Greek classics at the amphitheatre at Kirstenbosch Gardens, with whom he established the (short-lived) annual Dionysos Festival.

With Fatima Dike, he established the Siyasanga Cape Town Theatre Company in 2001 which was subsequently run by Fatima and Roy’s partner Paul Regenass. Together, they were invited to take South African productions to the Dublin Gay Theatre Festival.

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

As actor

As actor, he appeared in J.B. (University of Cape Town Drama Department, 1964), Hamlet (as Horatio, Maynardville, 1964), Waiting for Godot (as Pozzo, 1965) and The Mind Mirror (The Space, 1975).

As writer

Stage

He translated P.G. du Plessis' 'n Seder val in Waterkloof into English, first titled An Oak falls in Bishopscourt (the first production was cancelled but eventually staged as An Oak Falls in 1980, and later as Send for Dolly in 1986. A new translation in 'Cape English', by Sergeant and Brent Palmer was staged in 2004.

From Alan Paton's novel, Sargeant adapted Cry, the Beloved Country for the stage in 2003.

Screen

Sargeant wrote material for (and co-produced) the 1993 TV movie, Sentinel. He wrote and directed the 1997 TV mini series, The Principal, about Alan Paton's tenure as warden of the Diepkloof Reformatory for young African offenders. He wrote the 1998 TV movie, If This Be Treason, telling the story of Helen Joseph, the first woman to be put under house arrest in South Africa.