Difference between revisions of "Marda Vanne"

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=== First phase:  South Africa, 1914-1918 ===
 
=== First phase:  South Africa, 1914-1918 ===
  
She originally  acted for Stephen Black's company, making a name for herself in [[Love and the Hyphen]]plays by under her childhood nickname of [[Scrappy van Hulsteyn]], then in the latter years of the war joined [[Leonard Rayne]]'s company , performing under her real name of [[Margaretha van Hulsteyn]]). She appeared in a number of plays for the Rayne company, includeng, ''[[A White Man]]'', ''[[Kismet]]'', ''[[The Royal Divorce]]'', two more [[Stephen Black]] plays(''[[Helena's Hope, Ltd]]'' and ''[[Van Kalabas Does His Bit]]'') in February 1917, and finally an acclaimed major role in ''[[Milestones]]'' in 1918.
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She originally  acted for Stephen Black's company, making a name for herself in [[Love and the Hyphen]]plays by under her childhood nickname of [[Scrappy van Hulsteyn]], then in the latter years of the war joined [[Leonard Rayne]]'s company , performing under her real name of [[Margaretha van Hulsteyn]]). She appeared in a number of plays for the Rayne company, including, ''[[A White Man]]'', ''[[Kismet]]'', ''[[The Royal Divorce]]'', two more [[Stephen Black]] plays(''[[Helena's Hope, Ltd]]'' and ''[[Van Kalabas Does His Bit]]'') in February 1917, and finally an acclaimed major role in ''[[Milestones]]'' in 1918.
  
 
=== Second phase: England, 1919-1939 ===
 
=== Second phase: England, 1919-1939 ===
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Hartnoll, 19**;  
 
Hartnoll, 19**;  
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[[Margot Bryant]], 1979: pp.113-115,
  
 
Du Toit,  1988;  
 
Du Toit,  1988;  
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http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0889219/
 
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0889219/
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Go to the [[ESAT Bibliography]]
  
 
== Return to ==
 
== Return to ==

Revision as of 06:57, 16 April 2015

(1896-1970) Stage name for Margaretha van Hulsteyn. Actress and director. Nicknamed "Scrappy".


Biography

Born in Pretoria as Margaretha van Hulsteyn, to Sir Willem and Lady van Hulsteyn on September 27, 1896. she studied acting with Elsie Fogerty at the Central School of Dramatic Art in London.

She was famously, though briefly, married to future Nationalist Prime Minister J.G. Strijdom (the "Lion of the North"), some years before he entered politics. In 1918, after a period as actress in South Africa, she left South Africa to work in England, only returning , now calling herself Marda Vanne, in 1940.

In London, she formed a professional and personal partnership with actress Gwen ffrangçon-Davies that lasted until her death in 1970. She and Gwen worked in South Africa during the war years (1940-1946), after which they returned to England. She gained British Citizenship in 1965, though she continued to visit and be involved in South African theatre for many years.

She died 29th April 1970 in England.

Her career and contribution to South African Theatre

First phase: South Africa, 1914-1918

She originally acted for Stephen Black's company, making a name for herself in Love and the Hyphenplays by under her childhood nickname of Scrappy van Hulsteyn, then in the latter years of the war joined Leonard Rayne's company , performing under her real name of Margaretha van Hulsteyn). She appeared in a number of plays for the Rayne company, including, A White Man, Kismet, The Royal Divorce, two more Stephen Black plays(Helena's Hope, Ltd and Van Kalabas Does His Bit) in February 1917, and finally an acclaimed major role in Milestones in 1918.

Second phase: England, 1919-1939

In 1918 she left South Africa for England, where she adopted the stage name of Marda Vanne and went on to attain success in London.

Her first appearance was in If at the Ambassador's Theatre on 30 May 1921. She also appeared in New York's Empire Theatre in Easy Virtue.

(For more on her work in England, including her stage, film and TV profile, see http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0889219/).

Third phase: South Africa, 1940-1946

She returned to South Africa in 1940 and became a director of the resuscitated Pretoria Repertory Theatre. In 1942 she and Gwen ffrangçon-Davies formed the Gwen ffrangçon-Davies / Marda Vanne Company, which presented seasons of plays at the Standard Theatre and toured extensively in South Africa with classical and modern plays during the during the war years.

Among her more celebrated South African productions as director/producer and actress are Watch on the Rhine (1943), Flare Path (194*), What Every Woman Knows (194*), Blithe Spirit (1944), Milestones (Bennett and Knoblock, 1944), The Wind of Heaven (1946), A Month in the Country (1946), The Wind of Heaven (1946), which was their last production before she went back to England with Gwen ffrangçon-Davies.

Fourth phase: England and South Africa, 1946-1970

In this period she still did the occasional theatrical work in London, her final appearance being in Shaw's Man and Superman (1965), but most of her theatrical work was done in South Africa, while her London career seems to have been more in television work and the occasional film .

(For more on her work in England, including her stage, film and TV profile, see http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0889219/).

She kept close ties with theatre in South Africa and later returned on occasion to become involved in the establishment of the National Theatre Organisation (NTO), she and Gwen being appointed to the first Board of Control in 1948, and doing occasional plays for them. In 1950 she was appointed artistic advisor of the NTO.

South African productions in this period include:


As director: Die Wewenaar se Vrou Volksteater, Pretoria, 1949), George Bernard Shaw’s Candida for the National Theatre Organisation in 1950.

As actress: Guy Butler’s The Dam (NTO, 1952); N.C. Hunter's Waters of the Moon (NTO, 1953); and Eugene O'Neill's A Touch of the Poet (NTO, 1961), her last South African appearance.

[TH, JH]

Sources

Hartnoll, 19**;

Margot Bryant, 1979: pp.113-115,

Du Toit, 1988;

Tucker, 1997

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marda_Vanne

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0889219/

Go to the ESAT Bibliography

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