Alle Paaie gaan na Rome

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("All roads go to Rome") An Afrikaans one-act play by Uys Krige. (Often wrongly written "Alle paaie lei na Rome".)


The original text

Set in Castelmanico, Italy, and drawing on Krige’s war-time experiences, it is a play of great simplicity and humanity, an indictment of the senselessness of war. It tells the story of an Italian girl and her grandmother trying to deal with the traumatising murder of their family by the Nazis. The young girl has been struck dumb by the killing of her family and her grandmother fruitlessly seeks a lift from soldiers to take the stricken girl to a doctor in Rome.

Published in Afrikaans in the collection Alle Paaie gaan na Rome - Eenbedrywe by Unie-Volkspers Beperk in 1949, and later in Woord en masker (1967)

Translations and adaptations

Krige himself translated it into English as All Roads Lead to Rome and it was in the collection The Sniper and Other One-act Plays by HAUM Capetown, 1962.

Performances in South Africa

The play was first performed by ** in 19**, and often after that.

1957: Presented by B.A.T. on 30 October 1957, directed by Marge Olivier.

1967: Performed in English as All Roads Lead to Rome by CAPAB's Theatre-Go-Round in 1967 directed by Elliot Playfair.

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