W.E.G. Louw

William Ewart Gladstone Louw (1913-1980) [1]. Poet, playwright, translator, epicurean and renowned and influential theatre, literary and music critic.

Biography

Born in Sutherland in the Karoo, he was the brother of poet, playwright and academic N.P. van Wyk Louw.

He studied at the University of Stellenbosch and continued his studies in the Netherlands at the University of Amsterdam. His first academic position was as professor of Afrikaans and Nederlands at Rhodes University in Grahamstown. In 1957 he accepted the post of Arts Editor at Die Burger (a newspaper in the Cape) and remained there until the end of 1966. From 1967 he served as professor of Afrikaans and Dutch Literature at the University of Stellenbosch, until his retirement in 1978.

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

In the time he was involved in theatre in a number of ways, notably as a translator into Afrikaans. Among the translations were Sacha Guitry's Huis te Koop and Maurice Maeterlinck's Die Indringer (done with his brother), and Sudermann's Fritsie - all in 1935 (and also acting as stage manager for the three productions by students of the university).

In 1942 he translated Monna Vanna by Maurice Maeterlinck (produced by Volksteater in 1942) and in the same year wrote a prologue for Volksteater's production of a devised Nativity play (known simply as Die Kersspel). In 1960 he translated George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan for NTO

In his capacity as critic and arts editor, Louw became perhaps the most prominent and influential critic of his time, reviewing plays and productions for Die Burger, being lauded as one who wrote authoritative and well-grounded reviews and championed the preservation and elaboration of professional standards in the professional theatre.

Besides many other cultural bodies, he served on the boards of the NTO and CAPAB, and on occasion acted as adjudicator for the FATSSA Play Festival.

Sources

Deon Joubert 1972. W.E.G. Louw as toneelkritikus. Unpublished master’s thesis. Pretoria: Universiteit van Pretoria.

Deon Joubert 1974. Rigtings en figure in die toneelkritiek van Suid-Afrika, 1963-1972. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Pretoria: University of Pretoria.

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