Deep are the Roots

Deep are the Roots is a play by American playwrights Arnaud D'Usseau (1916-1990) [1] and James Gow.

The original text

It is a controversial play about a black army officer who falls in love with a former Senator's daughter. It ran for 477 performances over 14 months, directed by Elia Kazan and starring Barbara Bel Geddes and Gordon Heath.[2] and subsequently had a successful tour in the UK.[3] In 2012 the play was produced at the Metropolitan Playhouse.

Performance history in South Africa

1951: Performed in the Library Theatre, Johannesburg in 1951. The cast included Lesley Brook ("Alice Langdon"), Joyce Fowler, John Rutherford ("Brett Charle"'), Derrick Forman ("Senator Langdon").

1951: Produced by Cecil Williams at the Labia Theatre, Cape Town, starring himself as Howard Merric, David de Keyser as the educated Negro, Peggy Arscott (Genevra Langdon), Michael Drin (Senator Langdon), Cecilia Sonnenberg (Alice Langdon).

Sources

Wikipedia [2].

Helikon, 1(2):14-15.

Trek, 15(11):23. November 1951.

Trek, 16(3):20. March 1952.

Review of the Cecil Williams production by Oliver Walker, Outspan, 6 July 1951

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