Seven against the Sun

Seven against the Sun is the name of a South African play in two acts by James Ambrose Brown as well as the name of the 1964 film by David Millin, based on the play.

The original text

A play about tensions that are engendered when seven soldiers are stranded in the desert during the war. First performed by NTO in 1958 and Published by Afrikaanse Pers-Boekhandel, 1962.

Translations and adaptations

In 1964 it was made into an internationally acclaimed film by David Millin, featuring an all South African cast consisting of Gert van den Bergh, John Hayter, Brian O'Shaughnessy, Patrick Mynhardt, James White, Chris Robinson, Morné Coetzer (as Morne Coetzer Jr.), Elizabeth Meyer, Richard Daneel, Willie van Rensburg, Arthur Swemmer, Simon Swindell, Ivo Pellegrini, Michael Preston, Jan Bruyns (as Jan Bruijns) and Dale Swanepoel.

Performance history in South Africa

1958-1959: First produced by National Theatre Organisation in the NTO Kamertoneel, their one successful production of an indigenous English play. Directed by Victor Melleney, with Arthur Hall, David Herbert, Pietro Nolte, Bill Brewer and Michael Turner. Athol Fugard was one of the stage managers. The play opened at the Springs Civic Theatre on 24 November 1958, went to Pretoria and opened in Johannesburg on 8 December 1958.