My Fat Friend

A comedy in two acts by Charles Laurence.

The play

The comedy is an ugly duckling tale about an overweight young woman who attracts the attention of a potential suitor. The play premiered on November 6, 1972 at the Theatre Royal, Brighton, where it ran for one week before transferring to the Rex Theatre in Wilmslow for another week's engagement. On December 6, it opened in London's West End at the Globe Theatre. Published by Samuel French, 1974.

Translations and adaptations

Translated into Afrikaans by Johan Bernard in 1985, and titled: Vettie, Vettie! ("Fatty, Fatty!").

Performance history in South Africa

1973: Presented for the first time in South Africa by Pieter Toerien in association with Michael Codron in the Nico Malan Opera House, opening 7 August 1973, directed by Jan Butlin.

1985: The Afrikaans translation, Vettie, Vettie!, presented by PACOFS 1985, directed by Johan Bernard with Marie Pentz, Blaise Koch and Pierre Knoesen; PACT, directed by Ben Kruger 19**.

1987: The Afrikaans translation, Vettie, Vettie!, presented by CAPAB, directed by Hannes Horne, designs by Piet Odendaal, lighting by Malcolm Hurrell in the H.B. Thom Theatre, the Nico Malan Theatre and visiting several towns in the Western Cape. The cast were Marie Pentz, Ernst Eloff, Willie Fritz and Gustav Geldenhuys.

2014: The Afrikaans translation, Vettie, Vettie! is reworked by Pierre van Pletzen, directed by André Odendaal, is presented by Kosie Smit at Pieter Toerien's Montecasino Theatre.

Sources

PACOFS Drama 25 Years, 1963-1988

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Fat_Friend

Nico Malan Theatre pamphlet, August 1973

CAPAB theatre pamphlet, 1987.

Jennifer de Klerk Artslink 05/17/2014

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