Hennie van Greunen

Hennie van Greunen (19**-). Teacher, playwright, director, producer, translator, adjudicator.

Biography

Hennie has no formal drama training. After he finished his schooling in Mossel Bay, he studied English and psychology at the University of Port Elizabeth (now Nelson Mandela University) and obtained an honnours in psychology at Stellenbosch University.

He started as a teacher at Brackenfell High School, later became Director of Corporate Communications at the Cape College, and in 2001 became a a full-time writer for stage and TV.

Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance

He became a prominent and successful as producer and writer of light fare with the rise of the Afrikaans festival circuit since the 1990s, often working closely with Durbanville-based performers such as Pedro Kruger, Margit Meyer-Rödenbeck, Marion Holm, Trix Pienaar and Sarah Theron. A joint founder of Wordsmith's Theatre Factory, which started as a service provider for the festival circuit in South Africa, before branching and then branched into corporate theatre, designing bespoke events for a variety of companies in both Afrikaans and English.

He has written, directed and/or produced numerous works over the intervening years, including cabaret-style work with Kruger (Blougat, Lyf), the Dowwe Dolla-texts (for Meyer-Rödenbeck), the Sussie texts (for Marion Holm) and Die Tafel, Die Vrou wat haar man Gekook het, Normality (1997), Wydekloof (2001), Die Hangkas Haas, Die Naaimasjien (2009), .