'n Vaste Burg

'n Vaste Burg is an Afrikaans play by an unnamed author.

The original text

What appears to be a carbon copy of an untitled and uncredited typed play text (found in the Stellenbosch Drama Department archives in 2020), has a handwritten title ('n Vaste Burg) and the name T. Pohl written in pencil in it. Probably the owner (actress/director/stage manager and/or author?) of it, the text also lists a few actors in the same pencil handwriting. The name T. Pohl suggests this must date from her early period in Stellenbosch and Cape Town.

The text appears to have been used by two people, judging by the pencil handwriting, since two casts appear to have been used with one ort two exceptions. Probably for radio performances of the play. Besides Pohl's name, the text bears only two full names of performers Johan Schoeman (as Koos Basson"), Gerrit van der Merwe (as "Hendrik Willemse"), with only first or last names given for the other characters.

The title is taken from the hymn 'n Vaste Burg is onse God ( “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”), Martin Luther's famous rendition of Psalm 46, and deals with tragic loss and faith. Set in the dining room of a Boer family's home in a South African rural community sometime towards the end of the 19th century.

Translations and adaptations

Performance history in South Africa

Sources

A carbon copy of an untitled and uncredited typed play text (found in the Stellenbosch Drama Department archives in 2020), with a handwritten title ('n Vaste Burg) and the name T. Pohl written on it in pencil.

Go to ESAT Bibliography