Difference between revisions of "Christine"

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First published by [[Tafelberg Publishers]] in 1971, the volume dedicated to "Kita" (his wife, [[Kita Redelinghuys]]). The author was awarded the [[Hertzog Prize]] for Drama in 1978 in recognition of his work as dramatist, with special mention being made of his plays ''[[Christine]]'', ''[[Moeder Hanna]]'', ''[[Putsonderwater]]'' and ''[[Die Verminktes]]''.
 
First published by [[Tafelberg Publishers]] in 1971, the volume dedicated to "Kita" (his wife, [[Kita Redelinghuys]]). The author was awarded the [[Hertzog Prize]] for Drama in 1978 in recognition of his work as dramatist, with special mention being made of his plays ''[[Christine]]'', ''[[Moeder Hanna]]'', ''[[Putsonderwater]]'' and ''[[Die Verminktes]]''.
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==Translations and adaptations==
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Translated into Flemish by [[Tine Balder]] and in 1973 into German by [[Edgar Sievers]], a Ufologist and leader of a German theatre company in Pretoria.
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 +
There have been two English translations: The one version was by [[Pieter Venter]] (who had translated ''[[Die Verminktes]]'' as  ''[[The Maimed]]'' in 196*), and the second version by [[Michael Rice]], published in [[Temple Hauptfleisch|Hauptfleisch]] and [[Ian Steadman|Steadman]]: ''[[South African Theatre: Four Plays and an Introduction]]'' by [[HAUM]] Educational in 1984.
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An adaptation of the [[Michael Rice]] English version, which  localized the action in [[Apartheid]] South Africa rather than in Nazi Germany, was done by [[Karolien Dreyer]] in 2000 (see below), the cast of characters expanded to ten, with the original Nazi supporter ("The Man") replaced by the [[Afrikaner]] "Eugene Coetzee".
  
 
== Performance history in South Africa ==
 
== Performance history in South Africa ==
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1971: Scheduled to open on 16 April, 1971, directed by [[Bartho Smit]] himself, with [[Pieter Geldenhuys]], [[Kita Redelinghuys]], [[Trudi du Plessis]] and [[Pieter Joubert]]. However, the play was withdrawn at the last minute by the then Administrator of the Cape Province (in his capacity as chairman of the [[CAPAB]] Board). It was replaced by a performance of the ballet ''[[Sylvia]]'', and so the first play in [[Afrikaans]] to be presented in the theatre was ''[[Koning Lear]]'' (a translation of Shakespeare's ''[[King Lear]]''.)     
 
1971: Scheduled to open on 16 April, 1971, directed by [[Bartho Smit]] himself, with [[Pieter Geldenhuys]], [[Kita Redelinghuys]], [[Trudi du Plessis]] and [[Pieter Joubert]]. However, the play was withdrawn at the last minute by the then Administrator of the Cape Province (in his capacity as chairman of the [[CAPAB]] Board). It was replaced by a performance of the ballet ''[[Sylvia]]'', and so the first play in [[Afrikaans]] to be presented in the theatre was ''[[Koning Lear]]'' (a translation of Shakespeare's ''[[King Lear]]''.)     
  
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1973: Finally produced by [[PACT]] in 1973, directed by [[Francois Swart]] with [[Tine Balder]] (Christine), [[Sandra Prinsloo]] (Die Meisie), [[Don Lamprecht]] (Die Man) and [[Louis van Niekerk]] (Paul Harmse). (The Pretoria run was threatened with banning unless certain changes were made.)
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1973: Finally produced by [[PACT]] in 1973, directed by [[Francois Swart]] with [[Tine Balder]] (Christine), [[Sandra Prinsloo]] (Die Meisie), [[Don Lamprecht]] (Die Man) and [[Louis van Niekerk]] (Paul Harmse). The Pretoria run was also threatened with banning unless certain changes were made, including the excising of a number of profane words (including "God" and "hoer" ("whore"), the image of the crucified Jesus that simbolises the cloister had to be left out,  the young Christine was not to appear in her sheer underwear and Paul had to wear pyjamas over his underpants. (Some  of the excised words were replaced once the play opened in the less conservative context of Johannesburg.)  
  
 
1987: ''[[Christine]]'' opened for [[CAPAB]] at the [[Arena Theatre]] of the [[Nico Malan Theatre Complex]] in an experimental production by [[Esther van Ryswyk]] on 26 May, a month after the author's death. The director was assisted by [[Fiona Coyne]], the set designed by [[David van Rijswijk]], lighting by [[Pieter de Swardt]]. [[Babs Laker]] played Christine, [[Percy Sieff]] Paul Harmse, [[Marion Holm]] was Die Meisie and [[Willie Fritz]] Die Man.
 
1987: ''[[Christine]]'' opened for [[CAPAB]] at the [[Arena Theatre]] of the [[Nico Malan Theatre Complex]] in an experimental production by [[Esther van Ryswyk]] on 26 May, a month after the author's death. The director was assisted by [[Fiona Coyne]], the set designed by [[David van Rijswijk]], lighting by [[Pieter de Swardt]]. [[Babs Laker]] played Christine, [[Percy Sieff]] Paul Harmse, [[Marion Holm]] was Die Meisie and [[Willie Fritz]] Die Man.
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1990: Staged by [[PACOFS]], directed by [[Gerben Kamper]], featuring [[Ernst Eloff]] (Paul Harmse), [[Petru Wessels]] (Christine), [[Dorette Nel]] (Die Meisie), and [[Hennie Baird]] (Die Man). Decor by [[Johan Badenhorst]].
 
1990: Staged by [[PACOFS]], directed by [[Gerben Kamper]], featuring [[Ernst Eloff]] (Paul Harmse), [[Petru Wessels]] (Christine), [[Dorette Nel]] (Die Meisie), and [[Hennie Baird]] (Die Man). Decor by [[Johan Badenhorst]].
  
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1993: A production by students of the [[University of Stellenbosch Drama Department]] was presented at the [[H.B. Thom Theatre]] in November, directed by [[Waldemar Schultz]], starring [[Chris Vorster]] as Paul Harmse, [[Ira Blanckenberg]] and [[Melina Dreyer]] alternating as "Christine", [[Launa Kotze]] and [[Judy-Ann Deacon]] alternating as "Meisie", [[Waldemar Schultz]] as Man.
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1993: A production by students of the [[University of Stellenbosch Drama Department]] was presented at the [[H.B. Thom Theatre]] in November, directed by [[Waldemar Schultz]], starring [[Chris Vorster]] as Paul Harmse, [[Ira Blanckenberg]] and [[Melina Dreyer]] alternating as "Christine", [[Launa Kotze]] and [[Judy-Ann Deacon]] alternating as "Meisie", [[Waldemar Schultz]] as "Man".
  
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2000: The English version, directed by [[Karolien Meyer]], was presented by the [[University of the Witwatersrand School of Dramatic Art]] at the [[Wits Downstairs Theatre]],  opening on 3 May.
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2000: A localized adaptation of the [[Michael Rice]] English version, directed by MA student [[Karolien Dreyer]], was presented by the [[University of the Witwatersrand School of Dramatic Art]] at the [[Wits Downstairs]] Theatre,  opening on 3 May. The cast and characters consisted of the following [[BA Dramatic Art]] students: [[Luke Carstens]] ("Paul Harmse"), [[Sasha McDonald]] ("Christine"), [[Daniela Olivia Isaacs]] ("Young Christine"), [[Josie Potter]] ("Mistress"), [[Andrew Turner]] ("Eugene Coetzee"), [[Imran Garda]] ("Doctor"), [[Dylan Kerr Balkind]] ("Prosecutor"), [[Petronel Baard]] ("Judge"), [[Mpho Osei-Tutu]] ("Police Sergeant") and [[Janine Hornsby]] ("Caretaker"). Designs by [[Sheona Mitchley]] and [[Rayzelle Sham]]; Lighting design by [[Gerry Coughlan]].
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==Translations and adaptations==
 
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Christine is deur Tine Balder in Vlaams vertaal en in 1973 het Edgar Sievers, leier van ’n Duitse toneelgeselskap in Pretoria, dit in Duits vertaal. Pieter Venter, wat Die verminktes in Engels vertaal het as The Maimed, het Christine in Engels vertaal.
 
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Another English translation, by [[Michael Rice]] was published in [[Temple Hauptfleisch|Hauptfleisch]] and [[Ian Steadman|Steadman]]: ''[[South African Theatre: Four Plays and an Introduction]]'' by [[HAUM]] Educational in 1984.
 
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Christine (1971) is in opdrag van Kruik geskryf as openingstuk vir die Nico Malan-teater. Bartho sou weer self die regie behartig met sy vrou, Kita Redelinghuys, in die naamrol. Maar weer het die administrateur van Kaapland ingegryp en die opvoering afgelas. In 1973 het Truk vir die soveelste keer tot Bartho se redding gekom en die stuk opgevoer. Die administrateur van die destydse Transvaal het die opvoering laat voortgaan, maar eers nadat hy die teks “gesuiwer” het van sekere woorde en handelinge: kragwoorde (God en hoer) moes byvoorbeeld vervang word; die gekruisigde Christusbeeld wat die klooster moes voorstel, moes weg; ‘n jong Christine kon nie in skamele onderklere verskyn nie; en Paul Harmse moes nagklere oor sy onderbroek dra.
 
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"Paul Harmse is ’n skilder," het Abraham de Vries in Die Huisgenoot (3 Desember 1971) geskryf. "Hy is egter voortdurend besig om sy hede op te offer aan ’n skuldlas wat hy op hom gelaai het toe hy in die Tweede Wêreldoorlog sy vrou, Christine, ’n Jodin, teenoor ’n SS-er, Günter, verraai het. Sy was in ‘arbeidskampe’, maar het dit oorleef en van ná die Oorlog af na hom gesoek. Sy vind hom telkens en haar liefde (wat hy nou ervaar as iets versmorends) maak sy skuldgevoel tot ’n bestaansangs, juis as gevolg daarvan dat sy hom heeltemal vergewe, dat haar liefde se lankmoedigheid en verdraagsaamheid geen einde ken nie, méér word as die caritas waarvan Paulus (in die Bybel) praat – ja, eintlik die allure aanneem van Christus (vide ook haar naam). (...)
 
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“Wie teen Paul Harmse se redenasies besware het, moet net onthou dat Christine in die eerste plek ’n drama is, geen teologiese geskrif nie. (...) Ek het Christine ’n mono-drama genoem. Daarmee bedoel ek dat Paul Harmse eintlik glad nie die tradisionele hoofkarakter is in ’n situasie wat op die verhoog afspeel nie, maar dat wat op die verhoog afspeel, vergestalting is van ’n drama wat in Paul Harmse sélf afspeel. Die doeblering van rolle (die Meisie en Magda; en die Man in sy verskillende verskyningsvorms), die spel met verskillende tye en plekke, met werklikheid en ‘droom’, dit alles is funksionele verhoog-vergestaltings van hierdie drama in Harmse se binnewêreld.
 
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“Dit bring my by die belangrikste kenmerk van hierdie drama: dit is geen leesdrama nie. As drama moet dit staan of val by die bes moontlike opvoering daarvan.” De Vries vermoed dat Christine as drama (in prosa) tot nog toe nie sy gelyke het in Afrikaans nie.
 
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Oor die opvoering deur Truk in 1973 het Louis Eksteen (Hoofstad, 28 Maart 1973) geskryf dat Smit ons beste vakman is as dit by die tegniese aspekte kom. “Die dialoog is seldsaam suiwer, maar veral word die hantering van die verskillende tydsvlakke meesterlik hanteer. Die drama bied ook geleentheid vir goeie spel weens die besondere karakterisering. Dit is dan ook ten volle benut deur die spelers: Tine Balder as Christine lewer een van die grootste vertolkings wat ek nog op die planke in ons land gesien het; soms bereik sy momente van ontroering wat ’n mens nie alleen diep tref nie, maar jou ook suiwer.
 
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“Ook Sandra Prinsloo speel soos ek nog min gesien het; en sy laat die kontrapuntale spel met Tine Balder soms tot die fynste teenstellings en harmonieë ontwikkel. Louis van Niekerk in die rol van Paul Harmse vertolk een van die gedugste rolle in die ganse Afrikaanse dramaliteratuur: hy is van die begin tot die einde op die verhoog en moet al die skakelings met die verskillende tydsgebeure en -vlakke bewaar.
 
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“Maar op die ou end toon dié opvoering dat Francois Swart besig is om een van ons grootste regisseurs te word: hoe hy dit regkry om die tydsgebeure gedurig in al hul wisselinge tot geïntegreerde eenheid te verwerk, is op sigself die ernstige studie van ’n dramastudent werd; maar daarby is die regie suiwer en afgestroop.”
 
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In 1971 is Christine vir die eerste keer in die Kaap, en wel in die Nico Malan-Arena, opgevoer. Esther van Ryswyk het gesny aan Bartho se oorspronklike teks, maar nie vanweë die omstredenheid nie. Sy het aan André le Roux verduidelik (Die Burger, 23 Mei 1987): “Plek-plek verlóóp die teks net in dialoog wat nie bydra tot die dramatiese eenheid nie. En ’n rassetoespeling soos dié hou nie meer vandag stand nie; dit klink naïef.” Bartho het sy oorspronklike slot herskryf, maar dit het niks gehelp nie en Esther het albei slottonele in haar interpretasie van die drama gebruik.
 
  
 
== Sources ==
 
== Sources ==
  
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[[Erika Terblanche]]. 2018. "[[Bartho Smit]] (1924–1987)" [[ATKV|LitNet-Skrywersalbum]][https://www.litnet.co.za/bartho-smit-1924-1987/]
  
 
[[PACT]] theatre programme, 1973.
 
[[PACT]] theatre programme, 1973.
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[[Petru Wessels|Petru]] & [[Carel Trichardt]] theatre programme collection.
 
[[Petru Wessels|Petru]] & [[Carel Trichardt]] theatre programme collection.
 +
  
 
Go to [[South African Theatre/Bibliography|ESAT Bibliography]]
 
Go to [[South African Theatre/Bibliography|ESAT Bibliography]]

Latest revision as of 06:32, 5 May 2023

Christine is an Afrikaans play by Bartho Smit (1924–1986).

The original text

A highly controversial play about an Afrikaner artist haunted by his betrayal of his Jewish lover to the Nazi's while living in Germany. The published play has two contrasting endings.

Originally commissioned by CAPAB for the opening of the Nico Malan Theatre Complex in Cape Town in 1971. Set to be performed on 16 June, 1971, it was banned by the Administrator of the Cape Province (in his capacity as chairman of the CAPAB Board) at the last minute, and shelved for a later possible workshop production, which never happened. It was eventually staged by PACT in 1973.

First published by Tafelberg Publishers in 1971, the volume dedicated to "Kita" (his wife, Kita Redelinghuys). The author was awarded the Hertzog Prize for Drama in 1978 in recognition of his work as dramatist, with special mention being made of his plays Christine, Moeder Hanna, Putsonderwater and Die Verminktes.

Translations and adaptations

Translated into Flemish by Tine Balder and in 1973 into German by Edgar Sievers, a Ufologist and leader of a German theatre company in Pretoria.

There have been two English translations: The one version was by Pieter Venter (who had translated Die Verminktes as The Maimed in 196*), and the second version by Michael Rice, published in Hauptfleisch and Steadman: South African Theatre: Four Plays and an Introduction by HAUM Educational in 1984.

An adaptation of the Michael Rice English version, which localized the action in Apartheid South Africa rather than in Nazi Germany, was done by Karolien Dreyer in 2000 (see below), the cast of characters expanded to ten, with the original Nazi supporter ("The Man") replaced by the Afrikaner "Eugene Coetzee".

Performance history in South Africa

1971: Scheduled to open on 16 April, 1971, directed by Bartho Smit himself, with Pieter Geldenhuys, Kita Redelinghuys, Trudi du Plessis and Pieter Joubert. However, the play was withdrawn at the last minute by the then Administrator of the Cape Province (in his capacity as chairman of the CAPAB Board). It was replaced by a performance of the ballet Sylvia, and so the first play in Afrikaans to be presented in the theatre was Koning Lear (a translation of Shakespeare's King Lear.)

1973: Finally produced by PACT in 1973, directed by Francois Swart with Tine Balder (Christine), Sandra Prinsloo (Die Meisie), Don Lamprecht (Die Man) and Louis van Niekerk (Paul Harmse). The Pretoria run was also threatened with banning unless certain changes were made, including the excising of a number of profane words (including "God" and "hoer" ("whore"), the image of the crucified Jesus that simbolises the cloister had to be left out, the young Christine was not to appear in her sheer underwear and Paul had to wear pyjamas over his underpants. (Some of the excised words were replaced once the play opened in the less conservative context of Johannesburg.)

1987: Christine opened for CAPAB at the Arena Theatre of the Nico Malan Theatre Complex in an experimental production by Esther van Ryswyk on 26 May, a month after the author's death. The director was assisted by Fiona Coyne, the set designed by David van Rijswijk, lighting by Pieter de Swardt. Babs Laker played Christine, Percy Sieff Paul Harmse, Marion Holm was Die Meisie and Willie Fritz Die Man.

1989: Staged by PACT, directed by Lucille Gillwald, featuring Cobus Rossouw (Paul Harmse), Sandra Prinsloo (Christine), Ronel Kriel (Die Meisie), and Ben Kruger (Die Man). Design by Nadya Cohen.

1990: Staged by PACOFS, directed by Gerben Kamper, featuring Ernst Eloff (Paul Harmse), Petru Wessels (Christine), Dorette Nel (Die Meisie), and Hennie Baird (Die Man). Decor by Johan Badenhorst.

1993: A production by students of the University of Stellenbosch Drama Department was presented at the H.B. Thom Theatre in November, directed by Waldemar Schultz, starring Chris Vorster as Paul Harmse, Ira Blanckenberg and Melina Dreyer alternating as "Christine", Launa Kotze and Judy-Ann Deacon alternating as "Meisie", Waldemar Schultz as "Man".

2000: A localized adaptation of the Michael Rice English version, directed by MA student Karolien Dreyer, was presented by the University of the Witwatersrand School of Dramatic Art at the Wits Downstairs Theatre, opening on 3 May. The cast and characters consisted of the following BA Dramatic Art students: Luke Carstens ("Paul Harmse"), Sasha McDonald ("Christine"), Daniela Olivia Isaacs ("Young Christine"), Josie Potter ("Mistress"), Andrew Turner ("Eugene Coetzee"), Imran Garda ("Doctor"), Dylan Kerr Balkind ("Prosecutor"), Petronel Baard ("Judge"), Mpho Osei-Tutu ("Police Sergeant") and Janine Hornsby ("Caretaker"). Designs by Sheona Mitchley and Rayzelle Sham; Lighting design by Gerry Coughlan.

Sources

Erika Terblanche. 2018. "Bartho Smit (1924–1987)" LitNet-Skrywersalbum[1]

PACT theatre programme, 1973.

Review by Raeford Daniel (PACT 1973 production), Rand Daily Mail, 18 May 1973, p 14.

CAPAB 25 years. Unpublished research. p 117 and 448.

Beeld, 29 April, 1978.

Theatre pamphlet 1987.

Theatre pamphlet, 1993.

Petru & Carel Trichardt theatre programme collection.


Go to ESAT Bibliography

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