My Poor Marat

Мой бедный Марат (English: My Poor Marat, also translated into English as The Promise) is a 1963 Russian play by Aleksei Arbuzov [1]. About the lives and loves of three teenagers during the savage 1942 winter siege of Leningrad, as the Russians fight off the Nazi invaders. It was first produced in Russia in 1965, where it was staged in 66 theatres and ran for 1,636 performances.

Translations and adaptations

Translated into English under the title The Promise in 1965 by British translator Ariadne Nicolaeff. The first production was staged at the Oxford Playhouse in London on 21 November 1966, directed by Frank Hauser, with Judy Dench, Ian McShane and Ian McKellen.

Translated from the German (Mein Armer Marat) into Afrikaans, under the title Arme Marat by Dawid Engela in 1968. This translation is sometimes labelled My Arme Marat. (Available at Dalro, http://www.dalro.co.za/).

Translated into English under the title My Poor Marat in 1993 by American translator Angelina Bulbenko.

Translated into English under the title My Poor Marat in 2013 by American translator Oleg Ivanov.

Translated into Afrikaans as Die Belofte in 1976.

Performance history in South Africa

1967: The Promise, the Nicolaeff translation, was first produced in South Africa by Pieter Toerien and Basil Rubin at the Brooke Theatre in Johannesburg. It starred English actor Andrew Ray (Leonidik), John Fraser (Marat) and Olive MacFarlane (Lika), directed by Leonard Schach. Decor by Raimond Schoop.

1968: The same Pieter Toerien production of The Promise was staged in the Labia Theatre in Cape Town from 29 May.

1968: Performed in Afrikaans as Arme Marat by CAPAB, opening on 18 May in the H.B. Thom Theatre in Stellenbosch and subsequently touring to 19 Cape towns, with a run from 27 May to 8 June in the Hofmeyr Theatre in Cape Town - the production was directed by Mavis Taylor , with Katinka Heyns (Lika), Pieter Fourie (Marat) and Cobus Rossouw (Leonidik).

1972: The Afrikaans translation by Engela, under the title Arme Marat was presented by PACT, directed by Truida Louw, with Marie Koeleman, Jan Engelen and David van der Merwe.

1976: A touring production by CAPAB, under the Afrikaans title Die Belofte, was directed by Schalk Jacobs with Sandra Ferreira, Blaise Koch, and Allan Deysel. Fitz Morley was the company manager and Billy de la Querra the Assistant Stage Manager. The three-month tour took in the Western and Eastern Cape region.

1990: My Arme Marat was staged by PACOFS, with Dorette Nel, Cobus de Villiers and James van Helsdingen.