Cry, the Beloved Country

Cry, the Beloved Country is a novel by Alan Paton (1903-1988).

The original text

Cry, the Beloved Country is a 1948 novel by South African author Alan Paton.

The main theme of the novel, set in 1946, is summarised in Wikipedia[1]: ... a social protest against the structures of the society that would later give rise to apartheid. Paton attempts to create an unbiased and objective view of the dichotomies this entails: he depicts the Whites as affected by 'native crime', while the Blacks suffer from social instability and moral issues due to the breakdown of the tribal system. It shows many of the problems with South Africa such as the degrading of the land reserved for the natives, which is sometimes considered to be the main theme, the disintegration of the tribal community, native crime, and the flight to the urban areas. .

Translations and adaptations

Stage versions

Lost in the Stars [2] is a musical with book and lyrics by Maxwell Anderson (1888–1959)[3] and music by Kurt Weill (1900-1950)[4], based on the novel. The musical premiered on Broadway in 1949. An extract of the play was published in the anthology Reef of Time: Johannesburg in Writing edited by Digby Ricci, 1986.

In 1983 the novel was adapted for performance as a stage play in Botswana.

Cry, the Beloved Country is a 2003 play by Roy Sargeant, adapted from the novel of the same name by Alan Paton. The playscript, together with notes and activities for school use, was published in 2006 by Oxford University Press Southern Africa.

Film versions

Filmed in 1951 by Zoltan Korda, with a script by Alan Paton and (an uncredited) John Howard Lawson. Kumalo was played by Canada Lee, Jarvis by Charles Carson, and Msimangu by Sidney Poitier.[5]

Filmed in 1995 as a South African-American project, directed by Darrell Roodt, with James Earl Jones and Richard Harris.[6]

Performance history in South Africa

1983: A stage adaptation was performed by the Capital Players theatre group at the Moth Hall in Gaborone, Botswana.

2003: The Roy Sargeant play was first staged at the Grahamstown Festival, directed by Heinrich Reisenhofer, with Joko Scott, David Muller, Matthew Wild, Morena Medi, Wiseman Sithole, Chris Gxalaba, Adrienne Pearce, Leon Liebenberg, Johann Vermaak, Nhlanhla Mavundla, Roger Dwyer and others. Designed by Peter Cazalet.

2003: The same production staged in the Artscape Theatre Centre in Cape Town

2003: The same production staged at MACUFE 2003,

2004: The same production staged in the Playhouse Theatre in Durban

2004: The same production staged in April at the KKNK in Oudtshoorn.

Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cry,_the_Beloved_Country

Die Burger, 10 July 2003.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cry,_the_Beloved_Country_(1951_film)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cry,_the_Beloved_Country_(1995_film)

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