Difference between revisions of "Putsonderwater"
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| + | In 1970 a scheduled production by [[CAPAB]] was banned by the Administrator of the Cape Province (in his capacity as chairman of the board) a few days before the opening. | ||
Eleven years later, in July 1981, the first fully professional production was done by [[PACT]] in the [[State Theatre]] Arena, Pretoria directed by [[Louis van Niekerk]], starring [[Iza Trengove]], [[Don Lamprecht]], [[Louw Verwey]], [[Franz Marx]], [[Dan Welman]], [[Sam Marais]]. | Eleven years later, in July 1981, the first fully professional production was done by [[PACT]] in the [[State Theatre]] Arena, Pretoria directed by [[Louis van Niekerk]], starring [[Iza Trengove]], [[Don Lamprecht]], [[Louw Verwey]], [[Franz Marx]], [[Dan Welman]], [[Sam Marais]]. | ||
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1969: A production by [[Johan Mocke]] opened on 27 February at the [[Port Elizabeth Opera House]], | 1969: A production by [[Johan Mocke]] opened on 27 February at the [[Port Elizabeth Opera House]], | ||
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| + | 1969: The [[PACOFS]] experimental theatre group staged a brief and little publicised workshop production for an invited audience in the [[Ou Presidensie Teater]] (“Old Presidency Theatre”), directed by [[Henk Hugo]], with a cast including [[Neels Coetzee]] and [[Rina la Grange]]. | ||
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Revision as of 08:00, 19 August 2015
Putsonderwater ("Well-without-Water") is a 1961 play by Bartho Smit.
Published by Afrikaanse Pers-boekhandel in 1962.
In 1970 a scheduled production by CAPAB was banned by the Administrator of the Cape Province (in his capacity as chairman of the board) a few days before the opening.
Eleven years later, in July 1981, the first fully professional production was done by PACT in the State Theatre Arena, Pretoria directed by Louis van Niekerk, starring Iza Trengove, Don Lamprecht, Louw Verwey, Franz Marx, Dan Welman, Sam Marais.
English translation by A. Dawes: Well-without-Water or The Virgin and the Vultures.
Om 24 March 1971 the play was presented in an English translation by Anthony Dawes as The Virgin and the Vultures by the amateur dramatic society of the Johannesburg College of Education under the direction of Joey de Koker.
Contents
Subject
Set in a small South African village, the characters are representatives of religious, secular and political power, and the playwright’s exploration of their relationship with the young virgin, constitutes a virulent attack on social hypocrisy.
The original text
Smit was inspired by the novella Sous le soleil de Satan ("Under the Sun of Satan") by French author Georges Bernanos [1]
Translations and adaptations
Performance history in South Africa
In 1961 Putsonderwater was submitted as possible opening piece for the newly built Johannesburg Civic Theatre, but was rejected because somebody had noted that the father of the young girl's illegitimate child was the young "Coloured" man. Denied performance in South Africa for many years, it was first performed to acclaim by Volksteater Vertikaal in Ghent in 1968 and toured Belgium for a year.
1968: Directed at Rhodes University in by Abraham de Vries, with Nelia Dryer, Hugh Forsyth, Wilfred Jonckheer, John Badenhorst, Tom Cloete, Noël Roos, Bill Sieberhagen in the cast.
1969: A production by Johan Mocke opened on 27 February at the Port Elizabeth Opera House,
1969: The PACOFS experimental theatre group staged a brief and little publicised workshop production for an invited audience in the Ou Presidensie Teater (“Old Presidency Theatre”), directed by Henk Hugo, with a cast including Neels Coetzee and Rina la Grange.
Sources
Grütter, Wilhelm, CAPAB 25 Years, 1987. Unpublished research. p 447.
Teater SA, 1(2), 1968
PACT pamphlet, July 1981
Go to ESAT Bibliography
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