Difference between revisions of "Donkerland"

From ESAT
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Line 1: Line 1:
[“Dark Land”] by [[Deon Opperman]]. An epic play (almost five hours long) which revisits the history of Afrikanerdom [“Afrikanerhood”] in a series of historical episodes between 1838 and 1994. Commissioned for the [[Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees]] at Oudtshoorn, produced there in 1996 by [[PACT]] under the direction of the author (later the year played at the [[National Arts Festival|Grahamstown Festival]] as well) Published by [[Tafelberg]] in 1996.  
+
[“Dark Land”], a play by [[Deon Opperman]] (1996). Published by [[Tafelberg]] (1996).
  
 +
== Subject ==
 +
An epic drama of five hours duration, in two parts and consisting of 10 short plays of 20-45 minutes each, with 11 actors playing 68 characters and telling the story of seven generations of an Afrikaner family living on the farm Donkerland in Natal, a saga spanning a century and a half from 1838 to 1996. It tells the story of the Afrikaner from the Great Trek to the New South Africa (post 1994), as it was intertwined with the stories of the other cultures and peoples inhabiting the land. Opperman presented the saga as if holding up a mirror for the Afrikaners to see what brought them to this current reality, to question their place in it and their future. Ultimately Opperman’s mirror reflected the socio-political pessimism experienced by many Afrikaners immediately after the 1994 elections; all that will remain of the Afrikaner in this dark country, the play suggests, will be as fleeting as a snail’s trail across a rock on the farm Donkerland, a mere footnote in the annals of history. “This is my attempt at singing the song of a nation. A nation which is a mixture of nobility and monstrosity, which slaughtered, but also was slaughtered” (Deon Opperman, 1995, translated from Afrikaans). [Van Heerden (2008)][http://www.google.co.za/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCUQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscholar.sun.ac.za%2Fbitstream%2Fhandle%2F10019.1%2F1443%2Fvanheerden_theatre_2008.pdf%3Fsequence%3D1&ei=_egBU77CNYWJhQeE5oCADQ&usg=AFQjCNEWnD1BzeLnFmOV2tvyGLoMyNeT6Q&bvm=bv.61535280,d.Yms]. p. 132
  
Return to [[ESAT Plays 1 D|D]]
+
== Performance history in South Africa ==
 +
Commissioned for the [[KKNK]], produced there under the direction of the author in 1996 and later the same year at the [[National Arts Festival|Grahamstown Festival]] and in mainstream theatres.
 +
 
 +
==Translations and adaptations==
 +
 
 +
== Sources ==
 +
 
 +
Go to [[South African Theatre/Bibliography|ESAT Bibliography]]
 +
 
 +
== Return to ==
 +
 
 +
Return to [[ESAT Templates]]
 +
 
 +
Return to [[ESAT Plays 1 D|D]] in Plays I Original SA Plays
 +
 
 +
Return to [[ESAT Plays 3 D|D]] in Plays III  Collections
 +
 
 +
Return to [[ESAT Festivals  D|D]] in Plays  IV: Festivals and Pageants
  
 
Return to [[South_African_Theatre/Plays]]
 
Return to [[South_African_Theatre/Plays]]
 +
 +
Return to [[The ESAT Entries]]
  
 
Return to [[Main Page]]
 
Return to [[Main Page]]

Revision as of 13:57, 4 March 2014

[“Dark Land”], a play by Deon Opperman (1996). Published by Tafelberg (1996).

Subject

An epic drama of five hours duration, in two parts and consisting of 10 short plays of 20-45 minutes each, with 11 actors playing 68 characters and telling the story of seven generations of an Afrikaner family living on the farm Donkerland in Natal, a saga spanning a century and a half from 1838 to 1996. It tells the story of the Afrikaner from the Great Trek to the New South Africa (post 1994), as it was intertwined with the stories of the other cultures and peoples inhabiting the land. Opperman presented the saga as if holding up a mirror for the Afrikaners to see what brought them to this current reality, to question their place in it and their future. Ultimately Opperman’s mirror reflected the socio-political pessimism experienced by many Afrikaners immediately after the 1994 elections; all that will remain of the Afrikaner in this dark country, the play suggests, will be as fleeting as a snail’s trail across a rock on the farm Donkerland, a mere footnote in the annals of history. “This is my attempt at singing the song of a nation. A nation which is a mixture of nobility and monstrosity, which slaughtered, but also was slaughtered” (Deon Opperman, 1995, translated from Afrikaans). [Van Heerden (2008)][1]. p. 132

Performance history in South Africa

Commissioned for the KKNK, produced there under the direction of the author in 1996 and later the same year at the Grahamstown Festival and in mainstream theatres.

Translations and adaptations

Sources

Go to ESAT Bibliography

Return to

Return to ESAT Templates

Return to D in Plays I Original SA Plays

Return to D in Plays III Collections

Return to D in Plays IV: Festivals and Pageants

Return to South_African_Theatre/Plays

Return to The ESAT Entries

Return to Main Page