Waaihoek se Vinkel en Koljander

Waaihoek se Vinkel en Koljander (lit. "Windy Corner's fennel and coriander") is a musical comedy by Nico Luwes.

The original text

The play is set in Bloemfontein in about 1954 and the name Waaihoek refers to an old informal settlement, in existence since 1912, that was to be razed the following year and the people resettled under the apartheid legislation. "Vinkel en Koljander" are the names given to the pair of twins featured in the play. The names are derived from an Afrikaans saying, "soos vinkel en koljander", that basically means : "six of one and half a dozen of the other" - or like "two peas in a pod".

The play is a radical adaptation and localization of the plot of the Menaechmi ("The Twins") by Titus Maccius Plautus (254-184 B.C.), the major source of Shakespeare's A Comedy of Errors.

It tells of the twin brothers from District Six in Cape Town, Vinkel en Koljander, separated at the age of 6, when Vinkel was accidentally left on a train and ended up in Bloemfontein's Waaihoek township. He is adopted by Antie Girt and raised as her child. Chaos ensues when he is grown up and married, and his twin brother arrives in Bloemfontein.

It was written in 2000-2001, with financial support of the National Arts Council.

The text has not been published commercially, but is available online from the LitNet-spens[1]

Performance history in South Africa

2003: Performed by PACOFS in the Wynand Mouton Theatre, Bloemfontein, directed by Nico Luwes.

2006: Performed in the Wynand Mouton Theatre, Bloemfontein.

2022: Performed by PACOFS in the André Huguenet Theatre Bloemfontein 14-16 August, directed by Nico Luwes with musical direction by Angelo Mockie. The large cast included local performers Angelo Mockie, Jefferson J. Dirks-Korkee, Maria de Koker, Obed de Koker, Chico de Koker, Vincent de Koker, Danielle Louw, Levanté du Preez, Olive Pretorius, Saschine Cornelissen and Charles Human. The musical contribution by professional musicians and singers from Heidedal.

2022: Performed again at the Vrystaatse Kunstefees 6-8 October.

Sources

https://www.litnet.co.za/litnet-spens-waaihoek-se-vinkel-en-koljander/

https://www.litnet.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Luwes_waaihoek.pdf

A bound copy of the text, dated 2001, found in the Stellenbosch Drama Department archive in 2022.

Jane Mpholo. 2022. Akteurs bring almal hul kant in ‘Waaihoek se Vinkel en Koljander’, Netwerk24[2]

Facebook: "Waaihoek se Vinkel en Koljander – ‘n musikale klug"[3]

Justine Fortuin 2022. Waaihoek-komedie terug in die André Bloemfontein Courant, 11 August 2022.

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