Men Doet Wat Men Kan, Niet Wat Men Wil

A Dutch translation of the French comédie-proverbe for two actors On fait ce qu’on peut et non pas ce qu’on veut, by Dorvigny (Louis-François Archambault - 1742- 1812; stage name Dorvigny)

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).

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.