Under the Oaks

Under the Oaks is a play by Paul Slabolepszy (1984) - one of the plays in "The Corky Trilogy": Under the Oaks, Tickle to Fine Leg and Life's a Pitch.

A short comedy play about cricket-players and fans, {set in the dressing rooms}XXXX at Newlands cricket ground in Cape Town. It’s set in the sitting stalls under the famous oak trees (which do not exist anymore) at the Newlands Cricket Ground. One part of a two-hander, of which Over the Hill is the second part. Published in Mooi Street and Other Moves by Witwatersrand University Press (1994).

Performance history in South Africa

First presented at the PACT Liqui-Fruit Pot Pourri Festival in September, 1984, with the following cast: James Borthwick (Corky), Graham Hopkins (Richard) and Jenny Sharp (Beatrice). In December, 1984, as part of the Oude Libertas Summer Festival, in Stellenbosch, it was performed with the following cast: James Borthwick, Neil McCarthy and Jenny Sharp. In July, 1985 it began a National Tour (as part of a Double-bill with Over the Hill) at the Grahamstown Standard Bank Festival of the Arts, with the following cast: James Borthwick, Jonathan Rands and Kate Edwards, directed by Paul Slabolepszy and Frantz Dobrowsky. PACOFS, 1987, (as part of a Double-bill with Over the Hill), directed by Gerben Kamper with Blaise Koch, Annemarie Rauh, André-Jacques van der Merwe.

A Baxter/Snap Production in association with PACT Drama Under the Oaks was presented as part of a double-bill with Over the Hill at the Baxter Concert Hall, opening on 14 December 1989. Directed by Bobby Heaney, starring James Borthwick, Christopher Wells, Shirley Johnston.

Sources

National Arts Festival programme, 1985.

PACOFS Drama 25 Years, 1963-1988.

Baxter Theatre pamphlet, 1989.

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