Villa à Vendre

Villa à Vendre ("Villa for sale") is a one act French comedy by Sacha Guitry (1885-1957) [1].

Not to be confused with Maison à Vendre by Alexander Duval (1767-1842)[2]

The original text

First performed in Paris at the Théâtre de la Madeleine on 4 November, 1931 (on the same evening as Monsieur Prudhomme a-t-il vécu?).

Translations and adaptations

Translated into Afrikaans as Huis te Koop ("House for Sale") by the brothers W.E.G. Louw and N.P. van Wyk Louw. The text was never published, but is available at the University of Stellenbosch Library, Manuscripts Section, reference MS 31/16/7. A typed copy also held in the Stellenbosch Drama Department archives at Stellenbosch.

Translated into English as Villa for Sale by Virgina and Frank Vernon, published by Samuel French in 1933. (A typed copy of this text for Departmental use also held in the Stellenbosch Drama Department archives at Stellenbosch till 2022.)

Performance history in South Africa

1935: Performed at the Little Theatre in Cape Town in translation by members of the Kaapstadse Afrikaanse Toneelvereniging in 1935 for the University of Cape Town branch of the Afrikaanse Nasionale Studentebond. Directed by Marguerite I. Murray, with W.E.G. Louw as stage manager.

1935: Huis te Koop was presented by the University of Cape Town’s Faculty of Education and Department of Nederlands and Afrikaans at the Little Theatre in November 1935. Director not named. This is probably the same production as the above.

1967: It was performed as a lunch-time show in the Hofmeyr Theatre in 1967. It was directed by Paul Malherbe.

Sources

http://www.xn--thtre-documentation-cvb0m.com/content/villa-%C3%A0-vendre-sacha-guitry

https://www.theatre-contemporain.net/textes/Villa-a-vendre-Sacha-Guitry/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacha_Guitry

Inskip, 1972. p.120. (UCT Faculty of Education production).

Grütter, Wilhelm, CAPAB 25 Years, 1987. Unpublished research. p 66.

Typed text of the translation by Virginia and Frank Vernon, for internal use by the Stellenbosch Drama Department, found in Department archives in 2022.