On the Lake
On the Lake is a play by Reza de Wet (1952-2012).
Contents
The original text
Inspired by the Chekhov play The Seagull, the play revolves largely around the one absent character: "Kostia", whose suicide ten years before still leaves indelible marks on the women of the play.
The text published in the collection De Wet: A Russian Trilogy (Oberon Books, 2002).
Translations and adaptations
Performance history in South Africa
2001: Presented by the First Physical Theatre Company, directed by the author, at the National Arts Festival, 2001, starring Brink Scholtz (Nina), Annelisa Weiland (Madame Arkadina), Grethe Fox (Polina), Lucy Wylde and Anna-Karien Otto. The play was done back-to-back at the festival with another version, devised and performed by the First Physical Theatre Company and entitled lake…beneath the surface.
International productions
ON THE LAKE
The play revolves around the re-staging of the Symbolist play-within-a-play performed in Chekhov’s THE SEAGULL. Nina’s need to free herself from the constraints of her naturalistic role exposes the tensions beneath the surface of the Chekhovian world. The play is written for five actresses. ON THE LAKE premiered at the Grahamstown Festival in 2001; it was staged at the Stella Adler Drama School, New York, in February 2010. Production in Guernsey Feb, 2013.
Sources
Rhodes University Drama Department Annual Review, 2001, p.4.
Photograph of members of the cast held by NELM.
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