The Diary of Iris Vaughan

The Diary of Iris Vaughan is a play by Norman Coombes and F. Ogilvie, based on the eponymous novel by Iris Vaughan.

The original text

The original text is the published diary by Iris Vaughan, a young girl between the ages of about eight and twelve years at the beginning of the twentieth century. It is unintentionally hilarious and retains all the spelling errors of the original. Iris's father was a magistrate stationed in various small towns in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, and the diary gives the reader an enchanting view of small-town life in the Cape Colony through the eyes of a perceptive young girl.

It was first published in 1958 the Central News Agency (CNA) in South Africa. It soon became a South African classic and was reprinted numerous times.

The play

Adapted for the stage by Norman Coombes and F. Ogilvie. The Playscript (typescript) is held by NELM Location: [Collection: DICKERSON, Beth]: 2010. 68. 2. 1.

Performance history in South Africa

1969: Directed by Beth Dickerson as part of the programme of two short plays produced for the English Academy Conference in Grahamstown on 7 July 1969., along with The Last Voyage by Pauline Smith, produced by Rosalie van der Gucht. The cast included Lorraine Bellamy as Iris, Chic Chunnet as Mrs Vaughan and Tony Voss as Mr Vaughan,

1983: Performed by the Just Us Company in the Baxter Studio, directed by Cindy Just with Corinne Willoughby, David Laithwaite, Merle Lifson, John Dennison, Clare Dembovsky, Paul Buckby, Pippa Duffy, Catherine Molteno, Niccola Perez.