Thespis
The name of the supposed founder of modern day theatre, is found BOTH as the name of a theatre and debating society in Paarl and as the pseudonym used by a Cape Town theatre critic
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The original Thespis
Thespis (Θέσπις in Greek, fl. 6th century BC)[1] was a singer of dithyrambs and a playwright from Icaria who is reputed to have been the founder of theatre as we know it, when he introduced the first principal actor in addition to the chorus in his performances. Others argue that he was the one to introduce a new style in which one singer or actor performed the words of individual characters in the stories, distinguishing between the characters with the aid of different masks. What is documented is that Thespis was the winner in the first documented Dionysia festival held in ancient Athens in 534 BC.[2].
The term thespian (for a performer or actor) derives from his name, and the name Thespis has been used as the names of theatre companies, publications and critics over the centuries.
Thespis: the theatre and debating society
The first Dutch language "Rederijkerskamer" or theatre and debating society in South Africa, established in the Paarl. Mentioned for the first time in a poem by J. Suasso de Lima entitled "De Paarl en 'Thespis' Rederijkers", dated 6 July 1858.
[TH, JH]
Sources
Fletcher, 199*;
Du Toit, 1988
F.C.L. Bosman, 1980: pp.
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Thespis: The theatre critic
"Thespis" was taken as a pseudonym by a number of theatre critics in South Africa over the years.
In the 1850s someone wrote under this name for The Monitor in the Cape Town (e.g ).
In the 1940s-1950s a critic for the Helikon wrote under this name. See for example the reviews of Much Ado about Nothing (Helikon 1(2):13-14) and Deep are the Roots (Helikon, 1(2):114-15).
Sources
F.C.L. Bosman, 1928: pp. 402-3;
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