Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme

(Also written Le Bourgeois gentilhomme, The Bourgeois Gentleman) A five-act "comédie-ballet" by Molière, with music by Jean-Baptiste Lully.

First presented on 14 October 1670 before the court of Louis XIV at the Château of Chambord by Molière's troupe of actors.

Translations

Freely translated into Dutch as De Burger Edelman by C.E. Boniface. The text is unpublished, but the handwritten manuscript of this translation is in the Jardine Collection in the Library of Parliament.

Translated into Afrikaans by F.P. van der Merwe as Die Adellike Burger. Published as a performance text by DALRO.

Translated into English by A.R. Waller as The Would-be Gentleman. Another translation by George Graveley is entitled The Self-made Gentleman.

Performance history in South Africa

In English

1951: The English text by A.R. Waller was presented by the Department of Speech-Training and Drama of the University of Cape Town at the Little Theatre in October 1951. Production and choreography by Matine Harman. Some of the cast members were Jannie Gildenhuys, Pietro Nolte, Michael Venables, Edna Jacobson and Aubrey Louw. Costumes designed and created by Doreen Graves, settings by Cecil Pym, lighting by E.G. Marshall.

In Dutch

1825: Performed as De Burger Edelman ( a free translation by C.E. Boniface) by Honi Soit qui Mal y Pense in the African Theatre, Cape Town on 28 May 1825. The cast consisted of Boniface, Jan Smalberg, Miss L.E. Meurant, L.P. Biel, C. Roselt, B. van de Sandt, L.H. Meurant, F. Waldek, W. Brandt, De la Sablonière, A. de Waal, W. Burnet, R.S. Allemann, H. Roselt, De la Colline, A. de Kock, J. de Kock, K. de Kock, J.J. Piton, J. Terhoven and J. Herholdt. Also three sets of dancers.

1834: Performed in the African Theatre by as De Burger Edelman by Vlyt en Kunst on 15 November 1834, with a selection of dances. The play was repeated at the beginning of December, this time with a Dutch translation by C.E. Boniface of Rousseau's French one-act play Pygmalion.

Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Bourgeois_gentilhomme

Theatre programme, 1951.

F.C.L. Bosman, 1928: pp. 154, 281-284; 331

Go to the ESAT Bibliography

The original text

The text is unpublished, but the handwritten manuscript of this translation is in the Jardine Collection in the South African Library of Parliament.

South African performances in French and English

See Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme

South African performances of the Dutch version Boniface

1825: Performed by Honi Soit qui Mal y Pense in the African Theatre, Cape Town on 28 May 1825. The cast consisted of Boniface, Jan Smalberg, Miss L.E. Meurant, L.P. Biel, C. Roselt, B. van de Sandt, L.H. Meurant, F. Waldek, W. Brandt, De la Sablonière, A. de Waal, W. Burnet, R.S. Allemann, H. Roselt, De la Colline, A. de Kock, J. de Kock, K. de Kock, J.J. Piton, J. Terhoven and J. Herholdt. Also three sets of dancers.

1834: Performed by Vlyt en Kunst on 15 November in the African Theatre, followed by a series of typical dances

Sources

F.C.L. Bosman, 1928: p.124, 281-284, 331

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