Liewe Heksie

Liewe Heksie [1] ("Beloved Little Witch") is fictional character created by Verna Vels (1933-2014).

The texts

The stories of Liewe Heksie and her adventures were originally written as an Afrikaans radio stories, broadcast in 1961, they were later turned into an immensely popular TV cartoon version. Thereafter stories featuring Liewe Heksie have been a staple theme of Afrikaans children's theatre, featuring the original stories, as well as new texts written by the producers of the stage versions.

Stage adaptations

A number of different stage adaptations for children's theatre were done by various authors and directors, including Gerben Kamper, Marietjie Willemse, Woutrine Theron (with Amatea Meyer), Margit Meyer-Rödenbeck, Carel Trichardt.

The adaptations

A key collection of stageable texts is Liewe Heksie. Tien verhoogverwerkings van die "Liewe Heksie" stories deur Verna Vels (the subtitle reads: "Ten stage adaptations of the "Liewe Heksie" stories by Verna Vels") adapted by Edith Krantz and Verna Vels and published as performance texts for junior children by DALRO om 1991. The volume contains: Liewe Heksie en die Rolskaatse,

Stage performance history in South Africa

1990: The Kamper adaptation was staged by PACOFS, directed by William Egan, with Marion Holm (Liewe Heksie), James van Helsdingen (Blommie), Christo Compion (Karel Kat), Isadora Verwey (Die Geelheks), Annemarie Rauh (Borrie), Cobus de Villiers (Kerrie), Hennie Baird (Koning Rosekrans) and Dorette Nel (Die Feekoningen).

2002: Liewe Heksie presented by the Masker Teater, University of Pretoria. Directed by Carel Trichardt with third year students of the Drama Dept. University of Pretoria.

2011: Performed at Aardklop Festival.

2016: Liewe Heksie: Flower Power, a pantomime directed by Margit Meyer-Rödenbeck

2022: Liewe Heksie en die Rolskaatse ("Liewe Heksie and the roller skates"), the performance text adapted and directed by Margit Meyer-Rödenbeck, with Margit Meyer-Rödenbeck and Deon van Zyl.

Sources

https://www.litnet.co.za/verna-vels-1933/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verna_Vels

PACOFS theatre programme, 1990.

Petru & Carel Trichardt theatre programme collection.

Beeld, 26 SEptember 2011.

The Drama Factory Newsletter, 22 August 2022[2]

Go to ESAT Bibliography

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