Sœur Béatrice

Sœur Béatrice is a French play in three acts by Maurice Maeterlinck (1862-1949)[1].

The original text

Referred to as a "Miracle en trois actes", it is based on the medieval Dutch legend of Beatrijs[2].

Written and published in 1901.

Translations and adaptations

Translated into Flemish as Zuster Beatrijs

Translated into English as Sister Beatrice

Translated into Afrikaans as Suster Beatrys by Anna Neethling-Pohl and Anna de Villiers in 1937.

Translated into Afrikaans as Beatrys, 'n middeleeuse juweel ("Beatrys, a medieval jewel") by P.C. Schoonees in 1939.

Performance history in South Africa

1933: Performed in Flemish as Zuster Beatrijs by the University of Cape Town (directed by Ruth Peffers) in the Little Theatre, 23-25 October.

1937: An Afrikaans translation was produced by the Volksteater in Pretoria in March 1937, in a translation by Anna Neethling-Pohl and Anna de Villiers. It starred and was directed by Leonie Pienaar.

1946: Presented in Afrikaans by the Akademie vir Dramakuns in the C.S.V. Hall in Stellenbosch on 6 April 1946, directed by Suzanne van Wyk, assisted by Truida Pohl. The cast: Alida Gericke as Beatrys, Louisa Richter, Morkel van Tonder, Willie Olivier, Una Dönges.

Sources

https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/_bea001soeu01_01/_bea001soeu01_01_0001.php

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beatrijs#Traductions_et_adaptations.

Orsolya Réthelyi. 2013. Beatrijzen op de planken. Nederlandstalige toneelbewerkingen van het Beatrijs-verhaal in de eerste helft van de twintigste eeuw.[3]

Trek, 10(21):15, 1946.

Copy of the Afrikaans version found in the Stellenbosch Drama Department's theatre archives and now held in the Performing Arts Research Collection (PARC) at the Africa Open Institute for Music, Research and Innovation, with offices at Pieter Okkers House, 7 Joubert Street, Stellenbosch, South Africa. (See Suzanne van Wyk file)

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