The Birds

The Birds (Greek: ρνιθες, Ornithes) is a comedy by Aristophanes (c. 446 – c. 386 BC)[1].

The original text

A comedy about the Athenian Pisthetaerus, who convinces the birds to create a great city in the sky, and thus regain their status as the original gods. Pisthetaerus eventually transforms into a bird-like god himself, and replaces Zeus as the king of the gods.

Written and performed in 414BC.

Translations and adaptations

Numerous translations have been made of it over the years, inter alia English versions by Eugene O'Neill (Jr) and Gilbert Murray, as well as translations and adaptations in indigenous South African languages by various authors.

South African versions include:

Die Voëls ("The birds") by the classicist and translator J.P.J. van Rensburg is described as a "nabootsing van Aristophanes se anapeste" (i.e. an attempt to imitate Aristophanes's use of anapest metrical pattern) and was published in 1966 as "Aristophanes: Die Voëls, 685-722" in the centenary number of the Klassieke Nuusbrief, the newsletter of the Classical Association of the University of Stellenbosch.

A four page Afrikaans text by an unnamed author, simply titled Die Voëls and credited to Aristophanes, was found in the Stellenbosch Drama Department archives in 2022. In this case it indicates the names of performers who seem to have appeared in a production of it. No indication when or by whom. The names given are: Maretha Kritzinger, G. de Villiers, Sandra Floyd, J. Heyes, Marianne Kotze and V. Dark. The nature of the text seems to suggest it may have been written for performance by children or puppets.

Die Voëltjies ("The little birds") is a one-act play by Kobus Strydom, said to be based on The Birds by Aristophanes, trasported to a Souyth African setting with local names for the characters. A bound copy of the typed text (a handwritten note suggesting it belonged to a "Mr Hanekom" and that 5 copies were to be made) was found in the Stellenbosch Drama Department archives in 2022.

Die Hand Vol Vere (Afrikaans for "The Hand Full of Feathers") is an adaptation by André P. Brink(1971), a satire which comments on South Africans and the politics of the time (See Van Zyl Smit, 2005). The text was apparently not published.

Izinyoni (isiZulu for "Birds") is a 1974 adaptation by Themi Gwala.

Boklied (Afrikaans for "Goat Song") is a play by Breyten Breytenbach. As both Van Zyl-Smit (2005, p.273) and Conradie (1998, pp. 15-22) have pointed out, the second act of Breytenbach's complex and controversial play is a reworking of The Birds.

Performance history in South Africa

Circa 1966(?) Die V version done by students at Stellenbosch University, featuring Maretha Kritzinger, G. de Villiers, Sandra Floyd, J. Heyes, Marianne Kotze and V. Dark.

1965: Performed by the Drama Society of the University of Cape Town, in the Little Theatre, directed by Peter Kleinschmidt, using the Arrowsmith translation.

1966: Performed by the University of Natal, Department of Speech and Drama, directed by Pieter Scholtz using the D.Fitts and W. Arrowsmith translation.

1970: Die Hand Vol Vere, André P. Brink's Afrikaans adaptation was produced by the Youth Company of the Performing Arts Council of the Transvaal (PACT) in 1970. A first version, directed by Carel Trichardt, was staged in Pretoria in December 1970; a revised version, directed by Francois Swart, was staged three months later in Johannesburg and then taken on tour.

1971: Die Hand Vol Vere, André P. Brink's Afrikaans adaptation was staged by PACT, directed by Francois Swart, with Will Bernard (Pistorius), David van der Merwe (Van der Merwe), Frantz Dobrowsky (Swartkraai), Nigel Vermaas (Hoepoe), Marie Koeleman (Nagtegaal), Sydney Rogers (Gerrebek), Janice Honeyman (Gaatjie), Jan Engelen (Staatsamptenaar), Stephan Bouwer (Wurm), Marietta Wessels (Boodskappie) and Joan Friedman (Darling). Designs by Patricia Slavin and choreography by Sandra Prinsloo.

1973: Performed in English by the University of Natal, Department of Speech and Drama, directed by Peter Larlham, using the D.Fitts and W. Arrowsmith translation.

1974: Izinyoni, the isiZulu adaptation by Themi Gwala was produced in 1974 at the Casa Cinema in Port Shepstone, Natal, in aid of the LEARN fund of the The Daily News. It was open to all race groups, even though theatres in South Africa were segregated till 1977.

1980: Performed by the Drama Society of the University of Cape Town,

1982: Performed by the University of Natal, Department of Speech and Drama, adapted and directed by Mervyn McMurtry.

1984: Die Hand Vol Vere, André P. Brink's Afrikaans adaptation was produced by PACOFS, directed by David Matheson with Eric Nobbs, James Borthwick and Anita de Jager.

1988: Breyten Breytenbach's Boklied was performed at the KKNK, Roodepoort and Bloemfontein, directed by Marthinus Basson.

2004-2005: Presented in the Gilbert Murray translation at the Dionysus Festival in the Kirstenbosh Amphitheatre, directed by Roy Sargeant starring Jeroen Kranenburg, Nhlanhla Mavundla, Jacques Theron, Johan Baird, Stian Bam, Luke Viviers, Ryan Coetsee, Wayne Hendricks, Riaan Visman, Ryan Di Domenico and Wiseman Sithole.