Der Park
Der Park is a play by German playwright Botho Strauss (1944-)[1].
Contents
The original text
Written in 1983, it is loosely based on Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, set in a contemporary German city. The play was printed in 1983 and first staged on 4 October in 1984. It eventually saw three German versions in that year, one by Dieter Bitterli in Freiburg, another Dieter Dorn at the Munich Kammerspiele and one by Peter Stein at the Berliner Schaubühne.
Translations and adaptations
The play was translated into Afrikaans by Arnold Blumer with the title Die Park and performed in 1990.
In 1992 Strauss's play became the basis for the 1992 opera Parken by the composer Hans Gefors.
Performance history in South Africa
1990: Performed in Afrikaans as Die Park by KRUIK Toneel, opening on 20 October in the Nico Malan Theatre. Marthinus Basson directed, assisted by Willie Fritz. Designs by Basson and Reiner Leist. Lighting by Malcolm Hurrell. Members of the cast were Mary Dreyer, David Clatworthy, Peter Butler, Antoinette Kellermann, George Ballot, André Samuels, Robert Finlayson, Elma van Wijk, Gretha Brazelle, Mudu Mkize, Neels Coetzee, Edward Turner, Frans Kalp, Gustav Geldenhuys, Albert Maritz.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Park_(play)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botho_Strau%C3%9F
Die Park theatre programme, 1990.
Antoinette Kellerman's annotated copy of the typed text of Die Park for the 1990 CAPAB production, found in the Stellenbosch Drama Department archives in 2022.
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