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Dianne du Toit Albertze (19**-)

Playwright, novelist, actress, director and arts journalist, whose work in [[Afrikaans]] draws on her native [[Namaqualand]] and on trans and working-class lives. Her name also appears as Dianne Du Toit Albertze, Dianne Albertze and Dianne Albertze du Toit, and in early festival programmes simply as Du Toit Albertze.

== Biography ==

Born and raised in Springbok in [[Namaqualand]], [[Northern Cape]]. She was encouraged to write from her school years by the playwright [[Malan Steyn]], in whose ''[[Bos]]'' she made her first professional appearance as a performer. She studied drama at [[Stellenbosch University]] and took an honours degree in directing in 2018, writing her first one-woman piece, ''[[Die meermin-kompleks]]'', in Steyn's creative writing class in her final undergraduate year. After her studies she returned to [[Namaqualand]], and later settled in [[Cape Town]].

== Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance ==

2015: Appeared in ''[[Vaselinetjie]]'', adapted from the novel by [[Anoeschka von Meck]] and directed by [[Shirley Ellis]], at the [[Woordfees|US Woordfees]].

2017: ''[[Kommapunt]]'', written jointly with eight fellow drama students, debuted at the [[Woordfees|US Woordfees]].

2018: ''[[Die meermin-kompleks]]'', selected by [[Teksmark]], was performed as a twenty-minute solo drama at the [[KKNK]] [[Uitkampteater]]. She also received a Teksmark writing bursary. From this year she published poetry and prose on the online platform [[Klyntji]].

2019: ''[[Klip Kween]]'', on a young transgender woman who returns to her birthplace to confront her past, was staged at the [[Woordfees|US Woordfees]], directed by [[Jason Jacobs]]. She took part in the first writers' residency of the [[NATi]] Jong Sterre programme and the [[Jakes Gerwel Foundation]] at [[Paulet House]] in the Eastern Cape, where she completed the text ''[[Kaap]]'' under the mentorship of [[Amy Jephta]].

2020: ''[[Kaap]]'' was presented as a staged reading in the [[NATi]] Jong Sterre programme at the [[Suidoosterfees]], 21-22 November.

2022: Her debut novel, ''[[bottelnek breek bek]]'', was published by [[Human & Rousseau]], Cape Town (ISBN 9780798182669). Narrated by eight characters, it follows Daantjie Boonzaier of the Northern Cape, who becomes Dora, and is written substantially in [[Gayle]], with [[Kaaps]], [[Sabela]] and [[Northern Cape Afrikaans]]. It has been described as the first [[Afrikaans]] novel written in [[Gayle]] and as the first [[Afrikaans]] trans novel.

2025: ''[[Katrina Kakkerlak]]'', which she wrote and performed, was staged at the [[Kaapstad Toneelhuis]] in Cape Town, directed and designed by [[Eddie Newman]]; it marked her return to the stage after four years. ''[[Huis van sand]]'', on a mother and daughter in a caravan park outside [[Springbok]], was staged at the [[Woordfees|Toyota Stellenbosch Woordfees]] in October, directed by [[Wolf Britz]], with [[Tinarie van Wyk Loots]], [[René Cloete]], [[Kristen Raath]] and [[Jefferson J. Dirks-Korkee]], and published by [[Human & Rousseau]]. She also began writing festival reviews and impressions for [[LitNet]].

2026: ''[[Huis van sand]]'' transferred to the [[Suidoosterfees]] in the kykNET Teater, 30 April and 1 May. Extracts from ''[[bottelnek breek bek]]'' were staged at [[Artscape]], [[Cape Town]], 6-9 August, as part of the twentieth [[Artscape Women's Humanity Festival]], commissioned and produced by [[Marlene le Roux]], directed by [[Basil Appollis]] and performed by [[Du Toit Albertze]] with [[Riaan Visman]], each performance followed by an audience discussion. In July she took up the [[L.W. Hiemstra Trust]] writers' residency in the Banhoek valley outside Stellenbosch. She has spoken of a projected Namaqualand trilogy, of which ''[[Huis van sand]]'' forms part.

She has also written on music and theatre for [[Klyntji]], [[Texx and the City]] and [[LitNet]].

== Awards, etc. ==

2017: [[Woordtrofees|Woordtrofee]] for best newcomers, awarded to the company of ''[[Kommapunt]]''.

2018: [[Kanna Awards|Kanna]] for best emerging artist; ''[[Die meermin-kompleks]]'' was nominated for the [[Kanna]] for best text and best [[Uitkampteater]] production.

2019: Nominated for the [[Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards|Fleur du Cap Theatre Award]] for most promising student.

2020: A [[NATi]] Jong Sterre award for ''[[Kaap]]''*.

2023: ''[[bottelnek breek bek]]'' was shortlisted for the [[Jan Rabie-Rapport Prize]] and for the [[UJ Debut Prize]].

2024: Second place in the [[Diana Ferrus Prize]] for the poem "[[Die kjeent]]".

2025: Winner of the inaugural [[Reinet Nagtegaal Text Prize]] for ''[[Huis van sand]]'', receiving prize money, mentorship and a performance run at the [[Woordfees|Toyota Stellenbosch Woordfees]]. The text was subsequently nominated for a [[kykNET Fiëstas|kykNET Fiësta]] for best newly created Afrikaans or South African text.

2026: Third place in the [[Reinet Nagtegaal Text Prize]] for ''[[’n Kraai song]]''.

== Sources ==

Griebenow, Marina. 2025. 'Ons change die narrative van Namakwaland', ''INK'' (Toyota Stellenbosch Woordfees), 16 October 2025.

Meyer, Naomi. 2025. 'Die wenner van die Nagtegaal-teksprys: 'n onderhoud met Dianne du Toit Albertze', ''[[LitNet]]'', 8 May 2025.

de Beer, Diane. 2023. 'Theatremaker/writer Dianne du Toit Albertze courageously speaks her mind', ''De Beer Necessities'', 20 February 2023.

Croeser, Chantelle. 2022. Review of ''bottelnek breek bek'', ''Tydskrif vir Letterkunde''.

''US Woordfees'' programme, 2015.

https://woordfees.co.za

https://www.litnet.co.za

https://paulethousestories.jgf.org.za

Go to [[South African Theatre/Bibliography]]

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