Saartjie Botha

(19**-) Theatre producer and playwright. Born in **, she studied ** at the Stellenbosch University. ** As a playwright she has been both influential and prolific. Plays include **, *Spanner (2002), ** 1975 (200*), **, Tip, (Woordfees, 2003), , **, Balle (200*), In 2002 Barrie Hough rated Saartjie Botha as the most important voice in Afrikaans theatre since Deon Opperman and Reza de Wet. **As a producer she first founded the ** theatre in a restaurant which began opposite the Stellenbosch University Drama Department in 199*. ** In 2002 she, Marthinus Basson and Jaco Bouwer founded the company Vleis, Rys en Aartappels to produce independent Afrikaans work. Their first production was Botha’s own Spanner (2002) and AARS! *.

Vleis, Rys & Aartappels – South Africa’s leading Afrikaans theatre company.

Established in 2001 by talented writer and determined producer Saartjie Botha together with ingenious, veteran theatre director Marthinus Basson and new blood Jaco Bouwer, they now have no less than 56 productions and theatre projects under their belt.

Their oeuvre of the past two years is currently on show in a unique festival at the Baxter Sanlam Studio (see Listings for details). Attention to design, solid scripting, thorough-paced direction and virtuoso performances characterise the work. The keystone production is ’n Lang dagreis na die nag (Andre Brink’s translation of Eugene O’Neill’s Long Days’ Journey into Night) featuring Marius Weyers and Antoinette Kellermann.