War and a Woman

War and a Woman is a play by Vere Stent (1872-1941)

The original text

A play set in the South African War, it was written by Stent while he was the editor of the Pretoria News. The piece was marketed at the time as the first locally staged drama to deal with aspects of the war.

South African performances

1909 – It was first performed at the Opera House in Pretoria on 3 July 1909 with an amateur cast that included Emma Krogh (Katie de Villiers), C.V. Becker (General van der Westhuizen), Lionel B. Stent (Captain Marjoriebanks), Kent Willis (Captain Schmidt), Guy Stent (Corporal Higgins), Palgrave White (i.e. Vere Stent) (General Beresford), Theodore White (Corporal Adams), Jack de Beer (Corporal Roos), J.E. Dennison (Captain Dickson), Sydney Stent (Sister Brown), Gwen Adams (Nurse Roberts) and Charles Clark (Danster). The stage manager was Patrick Jones and the sets were designed by F. Edmonds. It opened with the same cast at the Standard Theatre in Johannesburg on 9 August 1909. Afterwards the South African rights were secured by Leonard Rayne, who took it to Bloemfontein, Kimberley and Cape Town. Performed in the Opera House, Cape Town, in September, it was found by the local critic D.C. Boonzaier (1923) to be "not a thrilling play, but no one could say it was a dull one".

1911 – A revival at the Standard Theatre on 6 Mach 1911 was produced by C.V. Becker, with sets designed by Hedley Churchward. Many of the original cast returned, but Lynwood Roberts was Corporal Higgins, Patrick Jones was Captain Dickson and the nurses were played by Joan Stent and Beatrice Fraser.

Sources

Ludwig Wilhelm Berthold Binge. 1969. Ontwikkeling van die Afrikaanse toneel (1832-1950). Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik.

D.C. Boonzaier, 1923. "My playgoing days – 30 years in the history of the Cape Town stage", in SA Review, 9 March and 24 August 1932. (Reprinted in Bosman 1980: pp. 374-439.)

F.C.L. Bosman. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1912. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: p. 431.

Rand Daily Mail, 3 July 1909

Rand Daily Mail, 10 August 1909

"Stent, Vere Palgrave" in ESAACH [1]

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