Piet Retief
Piet Retief is a tragedy by an unnamed author.
Contents
The original text
The title given for a play about the massacre of the Voortrekker leader Piet Retief (1780-1838)[1] and his men by the impis of the Zulu king Dingane at Mgungundlovu in Natal on 6 February 1838.
No published play by this name can be traced, though a performance of a play by this name is mentioned in 1904.
The translator and journalist Gustav Preller (1875–1943) wrote a romanticised Afrikaans biography of Piet Retief (published in 1906), which was possibly the basis of a number of subsequent stage works on the basic incident. From a Zulu perspective, Credo Mutwa's publication Indaba, My Children is also an important source.
Translations and adaptations
Performance history in South Africa
1904: A piece called Piet Retief (by an unnamed author) was performed by the Muziek-en Debatsvereeniging in the Gymnasiumzaal, Paarl, on 27 May, accompanied by two oral recitals, two solo songs and two choir pieces.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piet_Retief
Jackie Grobler. 2011. The Retief Massacre of 6 february 1838 revisited, Historia (vol.56 n.2)[2]
F.C.L. Bosman. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1912. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: p.480
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