Over the Hill

Over the Hill is a one-act play for three performers play by Paul Slabolepszy (1948-).

The original text

A short play about rugby players, set in the dressing rooms. Quintessentially South African, it is a comedy with a strong element of pathos in its sympathetic view of ordinary people facing mini-crises in their lives.

Usually performed as one part of the two-hander Under the Oaks and Over the Hill, with Over the Hill as the first part. One-act. Cast: mixed.

Published in Mooi Street and Other Moves by Witwatersrand University Press (1994) and in South Africa Plays published by Nick Hern Books. (See Gosher, 1988)

Performance history in South Africa

1985: First performed at the close of the 1985 Grahamstown Festival as a double-bill with Under the Oaks, presented by Jon White-Spunner and Paul Slabolepszy, directed by Slabolepszy, starring Jonathan Rands (Steve), James Borthwick (Charlie) and Kate Edwards (Lynette), before moving to the Baxter Theatre, Elizabeth Sneddon, the Hexagon Theatre, the State Theatre and the Market Theatre.

1987: PACOFS, 1987, (as part of a Double-bill with Under the Oaks), directed by Gerben Kamper with Blaise Koch, Annemarie Rauh, André-Jacques van der Merwe.

1989: Baxter/Snap Production in association with PACT Drama Over the Hill was presented as part of a double-bill with Under the Oaks at the Baxter Concert Hall, opening on 14 December 1989. Directed by Bobby Heaney, starring James Borthwick, Christopher Wells, Shirley Johnston.

Translations and adaptations

Radio - an adaptation by the author was broadcast on radio in South Africa.

Television - an adaptation by the author for television, under the title Swansong for Charlie, was produced in 2003, directed by Bobby Heaney.

Sources

National Arts Festival programme, 1985.

PACOFS Drama 25 Years, 1963-1988.

Baxter Theatre pamphlet, 1989.

Stephen Gray (ed). 1993. South Africa Plays. Nick Hern Books.

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