Chase Me, Comrade!

Chase Me, Comrade! is a farce in two acts by Ray Cooney (1932- ) [1].

The original text

Loosely based on Rudolf Nuryenev's defection to the West in the 1960s, it is the story of a defecting Russian ballet dancer involved in intrigue and connivance at the highest level.

First performed at the Theatre Royal, Windsor on the 30th March 1964, followed by a run at the Whitehall Theatre, London.

Translations and adaptations

Translated into Afrikaans as Vat So! by Wim Vorster

Performance history in South Africa

1969: The South African première opened in the Alexander Theatre, Johannesburg on September 3rd, 1969 presented by the Academy Theatre in association with Ray Cooney Productions, London. Directed by Rex Garner, with Diane Appleby (Nancy Rimmington), Kenneth Baker (Commander Rimmington), George Korelin (Hoskins), Melody O'Brian (Alicia Courtney), David Crichton (Petrovyan), Rex Garner (Gerry Buss), Hal Orlandini (Mr. Laver), Rod Hudson (Constable Pulford), Patricia Sanders (Janet Rimmington) and Bill Smale (Bobby Hargreaves).

1992: Performed in Afrikaans by PACOFS as Vat So! at the Bloemfontein Civic Theatre Civic Theatre during February, before going on tour to Kroonstad, Welkom and Sasolburg. Directed by Jannie Gildenhuys, with Ernst Eloff, Marga van Rooy, Petro-Nelise Trichardt, Cobus Fourie, Isadora Verwey, Pieter Brand, Christo Compion, Andre Odendaal and Igor Merkulov (as the Russian ballet dancer). Merkulov had been imported from the Russia by PACOFS and played the role of the Russian ballet dancer in Russian, as it had been in the original text.