Arms and the Man

Arms and the Man (1894) [1] by George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) [2]. A popular comic satire on war, about a soldier who carried chocolates rather than arms to the front. The source of the comic opera The Chocolate Soldier. * First performed at the Avenue Theatre, London on 21 April 1894.

Translations and adaptations

Translated into Afrikaans as Minnaar onder die Wapen for performance by the NTO in 1949.

Translated by A.J.B. de Klerk into Afrikaans under various titles: Soldate-vryers, Die Soldate-vryers, Die Soldateminnaars in 1963. It was also referred to as Soldatevryers. (Theatre programme held by NELM: Collection: Performing Arts Council Orange Free State (PACOFS)]: 2009. 67. 4. 1)

Performance history in South Africa

1933: Produced by the Cape Town Repertory Society in the Little Theatre, 28-29 July, directed by J.E.H. Duckworth.

1941: Produced by Mary Holder for the University of Cape Town Dramatic Society with Peggy Goodman, Leonard Schach, Ada Kaplan, Elizabeth Bushell, Donald Inskip, John Burnett, John Walker.

1944: Produced by Joyce Burch with the Stellenbosch University Speech-Training Students in the Little Theatre in 1944, with Johanna Olivier, Charles Johnman, Miems de Bruyn (as Miemie de Bruyn), Kitty Roux, Johan Liebetrau, Chris Botha.

1949: An Afrikaans translation Minnaar onder die Wapen ("Lover in Arms") was performed by NTO, directed by *** and featuring *** with, among others, Pikkie van Niekerk, Berdine Grünewald and André Huguenet.

Directed in April 1958 at the Little Theatre by Leonard Schach for the Cape Town Repertory Theatre Society. Decor and costumes by Mavis Taylor. In the cast: Elizabeth Bennett, Nicholas Boud, Connie Dix-Hart, Paul Jowell, Ian Kennedy, Peter Rutherford, Angela Shafto.

Die Soldateminnaars, a translation into Afrikaans of Arms and the Man by A.J.B. de Klerk. This version was directed by Fred Engelen for PACOFS in 1965, starring Christopher Hale and Annatjie Vorster.

In March 1968 the play was presented by University Theatre Stellenbosch in the H.B. Thom Theatre, produced by Jocelyn de Bruyn, starring Guma Oresta, Annelize van der Ryst, Gretchen Holzapfel, Johan Esterhuizen, Frikkie Engels, Fred Nel, Fred Stephens and John Cartwright.

Presented by CAPAB Drama at the Nico Malan Theatre, Cape Town, directed by Peter Curtis, from 23 May 1977 starring Lois Butlin, Roger Dwyer, John Whiteley, Rika Sennet, Simon Swindell, Zoë Randall, Neville Thomas and Barry Jarvis.

Presented by CAPAB Drama, directed by Ralph Lawson, opening 17 August 1991 at the Nico Arena, starring Elma van Wijk, Diane Wilson, Fiona Coyne, Jonathan Pienaar, Marius Peach, Neels Coetzee, Louw Verwey and Blaise Koch who won the Fleur du Cap for Best Supporting Actor Award for his role in this play. Design by Peter Cazalet, lighting by John T.Baker.