Charles du Val

DU VAL, Charles. (18**- ) * He and his wife toured South Africa for two years in the late 1870s and beginning 1880s with his one-man show Odds and Ends, claiming to have visited every “ dorp” (= town) in the process. Twenty two of the shows were done in Cape Town, travelled to Kimberly for 20 performances in the Theatre Royal. On to Bloemfontein, Middelburg, Senekal, reaching Pretoria at the start of the first Anglo-Boer war in 1880, where he was asked to perform in the camp. Also performed in Durban and later came to Tarkastad and Port Elizabeth, before they headed for home. His chronicle of his journey (With a Show Through Southern Africa) is a valuable resource on touring theatre conditions at the time.

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