'n Les oor di Tier

'n Les oor di Tier ("A lesson about the tiger") is a comic dialogue by J.H.H. de Waal (1871-1937).

The original text

This appears to have been among the very first plays specifically performed in Afrikaans.

Published in Di bedriegers : Magrita Prinslo, en ander Afrikaanse dramas en samesprake tot 1900, by F.C.L. Bosman. Voortrekkerpers, 1942.

Translations and adaptations

Later, the playwright's brother, Pieter de Waal, also wrote a farce (possibly called 'n Les), for performance by the Christian youth society (CJV) of Cape Town's Nieuwe Kerk. His play being as similar to his brother's piece, the brothers combined the pieces to create a longer play called Die Selfsugtige Skoolmeester, (possibly translated and performed as The Selfish Schoolteacher by the CJV of Warmwater near Oudtshoorn in 1914).

Performance history in South Africa

1892: The original text possibly first performed in Uitenhage in 1892.

c.a. 1893-1894: Performed by the CJV of the Nieuwe Kerk ("New Church") in the Wicht Hall, Cape Town.

Sources

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: pp.203-205

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