J.C. Combrink

J.C. Combrink (1837/9?-19**) was a prominent businessman, director amateur actor and leading figure in Dutch and English theatre in Cape Town during the second half of the 19th century. Also referred to as J. Combrink or Johan Combrink in some sources - unless this was another Combrink. (Du Toit, 1988 even has it as C.J. Combrink)

A remarkable man in many ways, J.C. Combrink was a successful printer and compositor by trade, but also renowned for his swimming exploits and courage (saving many people from drowning, and one person at least from a burning home). He had his home at Oudekraal and had built a road from Camps Bay to there. He later became known as "the father of Camps Bay" for his community contributions.

His contribution to South African theatre and performance

A staunch supporter of all kinds of theatre, he is mentioned by Jill Fletcher and F.C.L. Bosman as an instigator of theatrical events, a leader of companies and a director of both Dutch and English works.

He is first mentioned as a performer in 1855, when he must have been about 16-18 years old, when he participated in Door Yver Bloeit de Kunst's series of "Balaclava Benefit Performances" for soldiers participating in the Crimean war. He is later mentioned by Ludwig Binge (1969, p. 11) as a useful actor for Aurora, playing the lead opposite Melt Brink in the farce Niet of Graag ("Not at all or gladly") 5 September 1867 and repeating the role 3 October 1867 (billed as J. Combrink). When the Duke of Edinburgh visited Cape Town in this same year, he presented scenes from King John (Shakespeare) in honour of the occasion.

Though he initially worked in both English and Dutch, as we can see, he gradually began to focus on Dutch and Afrikaans theatre, becoming the leading figure ("Bestuurder" i.e. "Manager") of Door Yver Bloeit de Kunst (originally founded in 1849), reviving it in 1865. He was to be particularly influential after 1868, when he not only ran his own society, but also joined Melt Brink's Aurora and apparently performed from time to time for them. Thus he and Brink ended up dominating Dutch and Afrikaans theatre in Cape Town and environs for many years.

In the 1870s he apparently took the Door Yver Bloeit de Kunst on a few tours through the country, performing inter alia in Port Elizabeth and Kimberley.

His theatrical career and that of Door Yver Bloeit de Kunst apparently ended with a production of Het Geheim and De St Nicolaas Avond in the Opera House, Cape Town on Tuesday 7 July 1896, after which he became quiet for the duration of the Boer War. However Bosman (1980: pp. 50) does refer to a "few productions", citing a rather scathing review by D.C. Boonzaier (1923:434), of a another (to his mind sadly dated) production of Het Geheim by a J. Combrink and Door Yver Bloeit de Kunst in 1910. This was also apparently the last production to take place in the Good Hope Theatre.

Sources

Ludwig Binge, 1969: pp. 9, 11

C.D. Boonzaier. 1923. A series of articles on South African theatre, The South African Review (9 March-24 August). Reprinted as part of his text by F.C.L. Bosman, in Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II: 1856-1912. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik, 1980.

F.C.L. Bosman, 1928. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel I: 1652-1855. Pretoria: J.H. de Bussy. [1]: pp. 57, 253, 442, 463, 492, 511

F.C.L. Bosman, 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II: 1856-1912. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: pp. 46, 48, 50, 434, 441-4, 447, 449-51, 461.

Jill Fletcher, 1994: pp. 77, 105-6, 109.

J.C. Kannemeyer 1984 Geskiedenis van die Afrikaanse Literatuur Deel 1. Cape Town: Tafelberg[2]

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