Die Laaste Karretjiegraf
Die Laaste Karretjiegraf is an Afrikaans play Athol Fugard, written in association with Riana Steyn.
The original play
A play about the fraught lives of the itinerant workers in the Karoo, travelling across the semi-desert with donkey carts, based on the doctoral research of Riana Steyn.
The play tells the story of the Geduld family and the traditional burial of their grandmother Mieta under stones in the Karoo veld. Her grandchildren’s only prospect seems to be the squatter camp near Colesberg. Their father, Koot, was once the leading sheep shearer, but now he is in prison for the murder of his second wife. After his release, Sarah, a researcher who had dealings with the family years ago, tracks him down. Together they survey the Karretjiemense’s past and future.
It is Fugard's first play originally written in Afrikaans and was developed by him in association with the anthropologist Riana Steyn as a project while Fugard was a fellow at the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Studies (STIAS)[1] in 2011-2012.
The text was published by Human & Rousseau, 2013.
Performances
2013: The play was first produced by Eric Abraham and The Fugard Theatre in Cape Town on 25 January, as part of the Suidoosterfees. Directed by Athol Fugard, with Erica Wessels, Ivan Abrahams, Riaan Visman, Richard September, Ephraim Gordon and Kim Pietersen. Set design by Saul Radomsky, costume design by Koos Marais, lighting design by Mannie Manim, Sound design by James Webb. The production was dedicated to the memory of Jakes Gerwel.
Sources
Programme of the opening production at the The Fugard Theatre, 25 January 2013.
Marianne McDonald. 2012. The Craft of Athol Fugard. Space, Time and Silence . Los Angeles: Murasaki Books.
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