French Theatre in South Africa

French Theatre in South Africa can mean two things:

Productions of theatrical works in the French language

Productions of plays and other performance work in French has been a somewhat sporadic affair. Such productions did flourish briefly in Cape Town at the beginning of the 18th century, under the Batavian rule, when Cape Town had a number of French visitors as well as a French Garrison, but for the most part such events have been reliant on visiting companies and performers, the work of French teachers and University French Departments, authors of French or Belgian extraction (e.g. C.E. Boniface), amateur enthusiasts, and formal French organizations such as the Alliance Française[1] and the French Institute of South Africa (IFAS)[2].

Some French theatre companies

Het Fransche Liefhebbery Geselschap

French Dramatic Artistes

French Amateur Company, Cape Town

French-Dutch Amateurs, Cape Town

French Theatre, The - Cape Town

French Theatre Company, Cape Town

French Theatrical Company, Cape Town

Honi Soit qui Mal y Pense

Performances of French theatrical works in translation

Productions of French plays in translation on the other hand have been enormously popular, works having been translated into a number of the South African languages[3], and many of the performances becoming iconic events in the history of the theatre in the country.

Sources

F.C.L. Bosman, 1928. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel I: 1652-1855. Pretoria: J.H. de Bussy. [4]

http://www.ambafrance-rsa.org/Culture,865

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