Die Bram Fischer Wals

Die Bram Fischer Wals ("The Bram Fischer Waltz") is a play by Harry Kalmer (1956-2019).

The original text

The play, originally written in Afrikaans, tells the story of Bram Fischer, the lawyer and Afrikaner member of the communist party who campaigned against Apartheid and saved Nelson Mandela from a death sentence, but who himself would die in prison. Based on research and conversations with people who had known Fischer well, the piece is set in a tiny prison cell and looks back at his Afrikaner roots, his political views, his personal life - and how this would ultimately determine his fate.

Translations and adaptations

Translated into English by the author as The Bram Fischer Waltz. The text published by Wits University Press in 2016.[1]

Performance history in South Africa

2013: Performed at the Oudtshoorn Festival in April as a Vryfees production, supported by the University of the Free State, directed by Harry Kalmer, with David Butler.

2013: Performed in English (as The Bram Fischer Waltz) at the National Arts Festival, Grahamstown, directed by Harry Kalmer, performed by David Butler.

2014: Performed as The Bram Fisher Waltzat the Market Theatre, directed: Harry Kalmer, performed by David Butler.

Sources

KKNK programme, 29 March-6 April 2013

Ruphin Coudyzer. 2023. Annotated list of his photographs of Market Theatre productions. (Provided by Coudyzer)

Marisa Keuris. 2015. Portrait of an Afrikaner revolutionary: Harry Kalmer's The Bram Fischer Waltz, South African Theatre Journal Volume 28, 2015 - Issue 2: pp.117-128.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.18772/32016119742

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