L'intruse

L'intruse (1890), ("The Intruder") is a one-act play by Maurice Maeterlinck (1862-1949).

The original text

This is the second play Maeterlinck wrote, and is a symbolist work which deals with man's conflict with preternatural forces, against which he is powerless. First performed at Paul Fort's Theatre d'Art in Paris on May 20, 1891, as part of a benefit for Paul Gauguin and Paul Verlaine. First published in a Belgian periodical in 1890 and then with Les Aveugles in the collection entitled Les Aveugles by P. Lacomblez in Bruxelles in 1892 .

Translations and adaptations

Translated into English as The Intruder by Richard Hovey and published a number of times (1894. 1896, 1911 and 1914) by Dodd, Mead and Company in a collection containing The Intruder, The Blind, The Seven Princesses, and The Death of Tintagiles.

Translated into English by John Heard and published in Five Modern Plays by in 1936.

Translated into Afrikaans as Die Indringer by by W.E.G. Louw and N.P. van Wyk Louw. Text available at the Stellenbosch University Library, Manuscripts Section, reference MS 31/16/9.

South African performances

1935: Performed in Afrikaans as Die Indringer at the Little Theatre Cape Town in translation by members of the Kaapstadse Afrikaanse Toneelvereniging in 1935 for the University of Cape Town branch of the Afrikaanse Nasionale Studentebond. Directed by Marguerite I. Murray, with W.E.G. Louw as stage manager.

1956: Performed in English as The Intruder was presented by the University of Cape Town's Speech and Drama Department 19-22 September at the Little Theatre, directed by Leonie Pienaar, starring Percy Sieff as the grandfather.

197*?/198*?: Performed in Afrikaans as Die Indringer by the Drama Department Stellenbosch in the H.B. Thom Theatre. Stage manager/director Herman Pretorius

1997: Produced in English under the title The Intruder, at the National Arts Festival, directed by Lindsay Reardon.