Chase me, Comrade!

Chase Me, Comrade! is a farce by Ray Cooney

Also found as Chase Me Comrade

The original text

Loosely based on Rudolf Nuryenev's defection to the West in the 1960s, it is the story of a defecting Russian ballet dancer involved in intrigue and connivance at the highest level.

First performed at the Theatre Royal, Windsor on the 30th March 1964, followed by a run at the Whitehall Theatre, London.

Translations and adaptations

Translated into Afrikaans as Vat So! by Wim Vorster

Performance history in South Africa

1992: Performed in Afrikaans by PACOFS as Vat So! at the Bloemfontein Civic Theatre Civic Theatre during February, beofre going on tour to Kroonstad, Welkom and Sasolburg. Directed by Jannie Gildenhuys, with Ernst Eloff, Marga van Rooy, Petro-Nelise Trichardt, Cobus Fourie, Isadora Verwey, Pieter Brand, Christo Compion, Andre Odendaal and Igor Merkulov (as the Russsian ballet dancer). Merkulov had been imported from the Russia by PACOFS and played the role of the Russsian ballet dancer in Russian, as it had been in the original text.

Sources

https://www.raycooney.co.uk/ray-cooney-plays-chase-me-comrade

https://stageagent.com/shows/play/1873/chase-me-comrade

E-Mail correspondence from Wim Vorster, 9 November, 2024.

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