Pauline van Zyl
Pauline van Zyl was born Pauline Anniet Nel in Adelaide, Eastern Cape, on August 24, 1935, and was an amateur producer and actor. She went to school in Hofmeyer where she matriculated. After this she obtained her Diploma in Commerce at the East London Technical College. In 1954 she married Jannie van Zyl and in 1957 moved to the rural Eastern Cape village of Jansenville with her husband who served for a while as the town's Mayor.
While studying at Technical College in East London she took extra-curricular drama classes and acted in The Arrest which was directed by Uys Krige and presented by the College. She attended Paul Malherbe and Pieter Bredenkampshort's directing courses. She then joined the cast of some plays by the Jansenville Dramatic at Jansenville and began to bring plays to the stage. Was very interested in acting from my childhood. I approached the author Louis de Villiers and obtained permission to shorten his three-act play: Old goats and green leaves to a one-act with which we won the National Competition of ATKV.
In 1961 she was elected as secretary of the Jansenville Drama Vereniging and for a period of 30 years was very active with the group until it performed for the last time in 1996. She has organized seven successful carnivals and using the funds raised, she transformed the barren church square into a beautiful park with rock gardens, shrubs and trees. She was in charge of the town's 125th and 150th celebrations.
She was chairman of the ATKV branch in Jansenville and the NG Church's Women's Service for four years. She served as chairman of the then Committee of Institutions which was in charge of 21 nursing homes and three children's homes in the region.
Pauline van Zyl was a keen amateur historian and was very concerned with the preservation of Jansenville's built heritage, including the church and the old fort. When Sid Fourie a former resident and mayor of Jansenville, passed away in 1999, he bequeathed his house to Jansenville and Van Zyl transformed it into the Sid Fourie Historical House.
She also managed several projects of the National Lottery Commission including the Jansenville Tennis Club projct of which she was president for seven years. For three years she was the president of the Jansenville museums and chairman for eight years of the Huis Welverdiend nursing home, during which time she collected more than R5 million.
At the time of writing she was still the chairman of Jansenville & Beyond Tourism, the Sid Fourie Trust and the Sawas Health Memorial.
Contents
Contribution to South African Theatre
As Producer
1963: Produced Dienie Speel Toneel (Dienie is Play Acting) is a one-act play by Hélène Pienaar-De Klerk.
1968: Produced Bly Kalm (Stay Calm).
1968: Produced Oupa Saliger (Grandfather Saliger).
1971: Produced the 1st, 2nd and 3rd act of Heimwee (Memories).
1972: Produced Die Kongres (“The Congress”). A one-act play by Louis de Villiers.
1973: Produced Ou Bokke and Groen Blare (Old Goats and Green Leaves), written by Dr Louis de Villiers. The play won the ATKV annual acting competition.
1973: Produced Stilte Asseblief (Quiet Please!).
1974: Produced Toewyding (Dedication).
1974: Produced Dis Nou te Laat (It's Now Too Late), a one-act play by Louis de Villiers.
1975: Produced Mans Verkies Blondines (Men Prefer Blondes).
1975: Produced Die Kongres (Congress).
1975: Produced Middernag (Midnight).
1976: Produced Van Bye en Blomme (From Bees and Flowers).
1976: Produced Die Rooi Duiwel se As (The Red Devil's Ashes) by D G Richard, A one-act play based on a short story of the same name. A group gathers to hear the last will and testament of a family member with all sorts of unnatural happenings taking place.
1977: Produced Die Erfenis (The Inheritance).
1977: Produced Adv Marcus Antonius Spring Riem for the local school.
1977: Produced Die Trane Rol Oor Jou, Bokkie for the local school. The play is a light one-act comedy written by Mariechen Naudé.
1978: Produced Babbelkous en Bruidegom (Chatterbox And Bridegroom) and La Perruche et le Poulet ("The Parrot And The Chicken") a play by French dramatist Robert Thomas. It premiered at the Théâtre du Vaudeville in Paris on 12 August 1966, and was translated into Afrikaans by Tine Balder who renamed it Babbelkous en Bruidegom. It was adapted for an Afrikaans audience by Anna Neethling-Pohl.
1979: Produced Die Lug is Betrokke (The Sky is Overcast).
1980: Produced Op Rekening (On Account) a one-act play by Louis de Villiers.
1980: Produced Ou Bokke and Groen Blare (Old Goats and Green Leaves), written by Dr Louis de Villiers.
1981: Produced Die Hekse (The Witches) is a one-act play by Margaret Wood.
1981: Produced Die Arrestasie (The Arrest).
1982: Produced Die Toets (The Test) is a one act play by Louis de Villiers.
1982: Produced Die Lug is Betrokke (The Sky is Overcast) by the English playwright, Anthony Booth.
1982: Produced Dis Nou te Laat (It's Now Too Late), a one-act play by Louis de Villiers.
1982: Produced Geseënde Dag (Merry Day).
1982: Produced Die Oorgetuie (The Ear-witness) is a one-act play by Louis de Villiers.
1983: Produced Rondings Op Die Regte Plekke (Cambers at the Right Places).
1984: Produced Agt Vroue (Eight Women). Translated version from the French Huit Femmes. It is a 1958 dark comedy drama by the French dramatist Robert Thomas.
1985: Produced Geseënde Dag (Merry Day) for a second time.
1986: Produced Wit Leuens en Swart Dade (White Lies and Black Deeds), a one-act play by Louis de Villiers.
1986: Produced Die Oorgetuie (The Ear-witness) a one-act play by Louis de Villiers for the Jansenville High School.
1987: Produced Bietjie Stout en Baie Pret (Bit Naughty and Very Proud).
1991: Produced Van Bye en Blomme (Of Bees and Flowers) is a one-act play by Louis de Villiers.
1992: Produced Agt Vroue (Eight Women) a 1958 dark comedy drama by the French dramatist Robert Thomas. It is a translated version from the French Huit Femmes.
1993: Produced Tussen Vyf en Half-Ses an Afrikaans translation by Chris Fourie of Philip Johnson's mixed-language one-act play, From Five to Five-Thirty.
1993: Produced Dis Nou te Laat (It's Now Too Late), a one-act play by Louis de Villiers.
1996: Produced Tussen Vyf en Half-Ses for the second time.
As Actor
1963: Starred in Dienie Speel Toneel (Dienie is Play Acting) is a one-act play by Hélène Pienaar-De Klerk.
1968: Starred in Bly Kalm (Stay Calm).
1968: Starred in Oupa Saliger (Grandfather Saliger).
1971: Starred in Heimwee (Memories)
1972: Starred in Die Kongres (“The Congress”). A one-act play by Louis de Villiers.
1972: Starred in Die Reën Van Jou Liefde (The Rain of Your Love), a one-act play in Afrikaans by W.A. de Klerk. Produced by Ice Lötter and Rykie Lötter.
1973: Starred in Ou Bokke and Groen Blare (Old Goats and Green Leaves), written by Dr Louis de Villiers and produced by Pauline van Zyl presented in the Jansenville Town Hall, The play won the ATKV annual acting competition.
1973: Starred in Stilte Asseblief (Quiet Please!).
1974: Starred in Dis Nou te Laat (It's Now Too Late), a one-act play by Louis de Villiers.
1975: Starred in Mans Verkies Blondines (Men Prefer Blondes).
1975: Starred in Middernag (Midnight).
1976: Starred in Van Bye en Blomme (From Bees and Flowers).
1976: Starred in Die Rooi Duiwel se As (The Red Devil's Ashes) by D G Richard, A one-act play based on a short story of the same name. A group gathers to hear the last will and testament of a family member with all sorts of unnatural happenings taking place.
1977: Starred in Die Erfenis (The Inheritance).
1978: Starred in Babbelkous en Bruidegom (Chatterbox And Bridegroom). La Perruche et le Poulet ("The Parrot And The Chicken") is a play by French dramatist Robert Thomas. It premiered at the Théâtre du Vaudeville in Paris on 12 August 1966, and was translated into Afrikaans by Tine Balder who renamed it Babbelkous en Bruidegom. It was adapted for an Afrikaans audience by Anna Neethling-Pohl.
1979: Starred in Die Lug is Betrokke (The Sky is Overcast).
1980: Starred in Op Rekening (On Account) a one-act play by Louis de Villiers.
1980: Starred in Ou Bokke and Groen Blare (Old Goats and Green Leaves).
1981: Starred in Die Hekse (The Witches) is a one-act play by Margaret Wood.
1981: Starred in Die Arrestasie (The Arrest).
1982: Starred in Die Toets (The Test) is a one act play by Louis de Villiers.
1982: Starred in Die Lug is Betrokke (The Sky is Overcast) by the English playwright, Anthony Booth.
1982: Starred in Dis Nou te Laat (It's Now Too Late), a one-act play by Louis de Villiers.
1982: Starred in Die Oorgetuie (The Ear-witness) is a one-act play by Louis de Villiers.
1983: Starred in Rondings Op Die Regte Plekke (Cambers at the Right Places).
1984: Starred in Agt Vroue (Eight Women). Translated version from the French Huit Femmes. It is a 1958 dark comedy drama by the French dramatist Robert Thomas.
1986: Starred in Wit Leuens en Swart Dade (White Lies and Black Deeds), a one-act play by Louis de Villiers.
1986: Starred in Die Oorgetuie (The Ear-witness) a one-act play by Louis de Villiers.
1987: Starred in Bietjie Stout en Baie Pret (Bit Naughty and Very Proud).
1991: Starred in Van Bye en Blomme (Of Bees and Flowers) is a one-act play by Louis de Villiers.
1992: Starred in Agt Vroue (Eight Women). Translated version from the French Huit Femmes. It is a 1958 dark comedy drama by the French dramatist Robert Thomas.
1993: Starred in Tussen Vyf en Half-Ses is an Afrikaans translation by Chris Fourie of Philip Johnson's mixed-language one-act play, From Five to Five-Thirty.
1993: Starred in Dis Nou te Laat (It's Now Too Late), a one-act play by Louis de Villiers.
1995: Starred for the second time in Dis Nou te Laat (It's Now Too Late), a one-act play by Louis de Villiers.
1996: Starred in Tussen Vyf en Half-Ses.
Awards
Sources
"Jansenville, Yesterday and Today," Chronicles and Anecdotes of a Noorsveld Town, 1855-1955 by Sid Fourie. Published by The Jansenville Chronicle, Jansenville, Cape Province, 1956.
Interview with Pauline van Zyl
"Turning Back the Pages - The Story of a Noorsveld Town and District", Jansenville by Sid Fourie. Esco Publishers, Jansenville.
"Jansenville Buit die Nationale Trofee Vir Opvoering", Die Oosterlig, Monday, October 22, 1973.
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