Het Origineele Testament

Het Origineele Testament ("The original will") is a three-act Dutch farce by Melt J. Brink (18**-1925).

The original text

The later play is based on a poem of the same title that Brink had written and collected in a manuscript collection in 1865, but there appears to be some uncertainty about the nature of the text - some sources refer to it as a one act play, others a three act farce. Similarly, reports of the first performance of this play seem to be somewhat obscure. According to F.C.L. Bosman (1980) the date of the first performance of the play was on 29 April 1869,in the Germania Hall, Cape Town. Jill Fletcher, however, has the first performed as 29 April 1865, but the error with the year is most probably based on Ludwig Binge's reference to an original poem by this name, written in 1865 and possibly read as a poem in the following years. According to Binge the poem was only later expanded into the play.

Performance history in South Africa

1869: Performed by Aurora II on 29 April in the Germania Hall, Cape Town.

1869: Performed by Aurora II on 8 July in the Germania Hall,Cape Town, with the one-act play De Liefhebbery Comedie in de War (Van der Stempel Jr).

Sources

Ludwig Wilhelm Berthold Binge. 1969. Ontwikkeling van die Afrikaanse toneel (1832-1950). Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik.

F.C.L. Bosman. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1912. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: pp.459, 464.

Jill Fletcher. 1994. The Story of Theatre in South Africa: A Guide to its History from 1780-1930. Cape Town: Vlaeberg.

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