Men Doet Wat Men Kan, Niet Wat Men Wil

Men Doet Wat Men Kan, Niet Wat Men Wil ("One does what one can, not what one wants") is a Dutch translation of the French On Fait ce qu’on Peut et non pas ce qu’on Veut, a comédie-proverbe for two actors by Dorvigny (Louis-François Archambault - 1742- 1812; stage name Dorvigny)

See On Fait ce qu’on Peut et non pas ce qu’on Veut

Performed for the first time in Paris at le Théâtre des Varieties Amusantes in 1779. Published in French “au Magasin général des Pièces de Théâtre, chez J.B. Broulhiet, rue Saint-Rome”, Toulouse , 1785.

The Dutch version, translated from the French by Hendrik Ogelwight jr, was published in 1787 (and again in 1805) in Amsterdam by Pieter Johannes Uylenbroek.

Performance history in South Africa

31 May 1806: First performed in South Africa by a French Amateur Company in the African Theatre, Cape Town, with Pygmalion (Rousseau) and a Lyrische Scene ("Lyric Comedy", by Delémery).

11 November 1815: Produced by Honi Soit Qui Mal Y Pense on 11 November, with the addition of De Struikroovers van Kalabrien, of De Onveilige Wildernis ( Tréogate) and Jean-Pierre-Diogenes, of L'Orateur dans un Tonneau ("The Speaker in a Barrel").

16 October 1819: Performed by a new company called Men Doet Wat Men Kan in the African Theatre, Cape Town, with Dago, of De Spaansche Bedelaars (Cuvelier).

1836: Apparently enquiries about borrowing a text were made by Vlyt en Kunst sometime in January , though no there appear to have been no further record of a performance.