Een Zwart Heer

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("A Black Gentleman") Een Zwart Heer was an unnamed black actor, apparently a professional actor from the "Kingdom of Acte".

He is described in De Kaapsche Courant of 11 November, 1815 as "een zeker zwart Heer...die voormaals een der voornaamste Acteurs in he Koningkryk Acte was.." ("a certain black Gentleman... previously one of the most distinguished actors in the Kingdom of Acte").

He performed for Honi Soit qui Mal y Pense in Cape Town on Saturday 11 November, 1815 when he delivered an enjoyable piece in three languages (French, English and Dutch) listed as Jean-Pierre-Diogenes, of L'Orateur dans un Tonneau (Jean-Pierre-Diogenes, ou L'Orateur dans un Tonneau), as part of a programme including Men Doet Wat Men Kan, Niet Wat Men Wil (Dorvigny) and De Struikroovers van Kalabrien, of De Onveilige Wildernis (Tréogate).

F.C.L. Bosman (1928[1]) believes it to have been the first appearance on the formal stage by a black actor in the Cape, and places the "Kingdom of Acte" in Madagascar.

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