Difference between revisions of "Die Toneelstuk"
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== Background == | == Background == | ||
| − | ''[[Die Toneelstuk]]'', subtitled ‘n Belydenis in Twee Bedrywe [A Confession in Two Acts] looks, like Breytenbach's earlier ''[[The Life and Times of Johnny Cockroach]]'' at the present through a mirror reflecting the past. While he was in solitary confinement serving a prison sentence for high treason during the apartheid era, Breytenbach had a dream one night which decades later became the stimulus for writing ''[[Die Toneelstuk]]''. In his dream another political prisoner, the great Russian author [[Fyodor Dostoyevsky]], appeared in the door of Breytenbach’s cell surrounded by a bright light and he asked the poet to complete the unfinished poem mentioned in his novel [[The Brothers Karamazov]] (Basson, 2001). This was the inspiration for another richly worded, overwhelming spectacle full of subtle, often obscure references and outrageous images. [Van Heerden (2008)][http://www.google.co.za/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCUQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscholar.sun.ac.za%2Fbitstream%2Fhandle%2F10019.1%2F1443%2Fvanheerden_theatre_2008.pdf%3Fsequence%3D1&ei=_egBU77CNYWJhQeE5oCADQ&usg=AFQjCNEWnD1BzeLnFmOV2tvyGLoMyNeT6Q&bvm=bv.61535280,d.Yms]. p. 123. | + | ''[[Die Toneelstuk]]'', subtitled ''‘n Belydenis in Twee Bedrywe'' [''A Confession in Two Acts''] looks, like Breytenbach's earlier ''[[The Life and Times of Johnny Cockroach]]'' at the present through a mirror reflecting the past. While he was in solitary confinement serving a prison sentence for high treason during the apartheid era, Breytenbach had a dream one night which decades later became the stimulus for writing ''[[Die Toneelstuk]]''. In his dream another political prisoner, the great Russian author [[Fyodor Dostoyevsky]], appeared in the door of Breytenbach’s cell surrounded by a bright light and he asked the poet to complete the unfinished poem mentioned in his novel [[The Brothers Karamazov]] (Basson, 2001). This was the inspiration for another richly worded, overwhelming spectacle full of subtle, often obscure references and outrageous images. [Van Heerden (2008)][http://www.google.co.za/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCUQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscholar.sun.ac.za%2Fbitstream%2Fhandle%2F10019.1%2F1443%2Fvanheerden_theatre_2008.pdf%3Fsequence%3D1&ei=_egBU77CNYWJhQeE5oCADQ&usg=AFQjCNEWnD1BzeLnFmOV2tvyGLoMyNeT6Q&bvm=bv.61535280,d.Yms]. p. 123. |
== Performance history in South Africa == | == Performance history in South Africa == | ||
Revision as of 13:44, 25 February 2014
("The Play") by Breyten Breytenbach. First published by Human & Rousseau in 2001.
Contents
Background
Die Toneelstuk, subtitled ‘n Belydenis in Twee Bedrywe [A Confession in Two Acts] looks, like Breytenbach's earlier The Life and Times of Johnny Cockroach at the present through a mirror reflecting the past. While he was in solitary confinement serving a prison sentence for high treason during the apartheid era, Breytenbach had a dream one night which decades later became the stimulus for writing Die Toneelstuk. In his dream another political prisoner, the great Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky, appeared in the door of Breytenbach’s cell surrounded by a bright light and he asked the poet to complete the unfinished poem mentioned in his novel The Brothers Karamazov (Basson, 2001). This was the inspiration for another richly worded, overwhelming spectacle full of subtle, often obscure references and outrageous images. [Van Heerden (2008)][1]. p. 123.
Performance history in South Africa
First produced at the Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees in Oudtshoorn in 2001, directed by Marthinus Basson. With Antoinette Kellermann, Albert Maritz, Christopher Gxalaba, Jan Ellis, Chan Marti, Anton Smuts, Rob van Vuuren. Lighting by Albert Snyman.
Translations and adaptations
Sources
Programme notes
Go to ESAT Bibliography
or
by Rouxnette du Preez. One-act. Cast: mixed.
Return to
Return to ESAT Templates
Return to T in Plays I Original SA Plays
Return to T in Plays II Foreign Plays
Return to T in Plays III Collections
Return to T in Plays IV: Festivals and Pageants
Return to South_African_Theatre/Plays
Return to The ESAT Entries
