C.G.S. de Villiers

Dr C.G.S. de Villiers, (better known locally as Dr Con de Villiers) (1894-1978) was an author, translator, director and immensely popular professor of zoology at the University of Stellenbosch.

Biography

Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance

Besides his famous stories of the Overberg, he was also a theatre director and translator of plays, notably the works of Ibsen.

He directed A Doll's House in English (with Helene Botha as "Nora") in 1925 and Pirandello's comedy Liolà as The Idler at about the same time, also featuring Botha.

In 1981 the SABC broadcast was Dokter Con Viljee se Overberg, a popular TV series based on his Overberg-stories and directed by Manie van Rensburg.

Translations

He translated Pirandello's La vita che ti diedi as Die Lewe wat ek jou gegee het ("The life I gave you"), later performed by PACT and UTS in 1964.

Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana, translated into Afrikaans by Con de Villiers and performed in Stellenbosch in 1940;

In the 1920s he also did some Afrikaans translations of Rosmersholm and Boumeester Solness (an Afrikaans version of The Master Builder) for the society. The plays were performed by various groups over the years.

He translated and directed Boumeester Solness ( The Master Builder) on 12 August, 1926 for the Unie-debatsvereniging (starring inter alia Anna Pohl and Neep van der Merwe.)