Difference between revisions of "Michael Picardie"

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[[Michael Picardie]] (1936-) is a South African born academic, actor and playwright.
  
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== Biography ==
  
Michael Picardie (19**-) is a South African born actor, director and playwright.
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He was born in Johannesburg in 1936, where he grew up and was trained in theatre by [[Muriel Alexander]] from the age of 11 to 16, and winning  [[Eisteddfod]] medals for acting. He later studied at the University of the Witwatersrand, obtaining a B.A. in Politics, English, and African Studies (1957) and a B.A.Hons in Politics (1958).  He then trained in social work at Liverpool University (1965) and completed an MA based on a dissertation on aspects of psychiatric social work from Leicester University (1970).  
  
He was trained in theatre by Muriel Alexander from the age of 11 to 16 in Johannesburg, and won  Eisteddfod medals for acting.  
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Besides his theatrical work (see below), he has worked in child guidance and adult mental health in various parts of the world, including Zimbabwe and Botswana, helped with research into social work with the elderly, and taught at Barnett House, Oxford and the Department of Social Administration, University College, Cardiff,  and has published on behaviour theory, interactionist perspectives, mental health advocacy and existentialism in British academic journals.  
  
He later gained experience at the University of the Witwatersrand where he did a B.A. in Politics, English, and African Studies (1957) and a B.A.Hons in Politics (1958). While there he acted for the [[Wits University Players]] in ''[[Julius Caesar]]'' (Shakespeare), ''[[The Duchess of Malfi]]'' (Webster) ") and ''[[The Male Animal]]'' (James Thurber), He also at the time played for the [[Johannesburg Reps]]  in 's ''[[Under Milk Wood]]'' (Dylan Thomas) and ''[[Much Ado About Nothing]]'' (Shakespeare).  
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He settled in Wales, where he later once more became a post graduate student, now in theatre, and continued working as an actor and playwright. He completed a masters degree in Theatre, Film and T.V. Studies (with a thesis entitled ''The Drama and Theatre of Two South African Plays Under Apartheid'') at Abystwyth University (2009) and a Ph.D. at the same university (2014).
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Besides his writing for theatre, film and TV, he has also written poetry and prose, including ''I Had a Black Man'', a story published in ''[[Africa South]]'' and ''Trance Dance for the Cape KhoiSan'', poetry which appeared in ''[[New Coin]]''.
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== Contribution to theatre, film, media and performance in South Africa ==
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 +
 
 +
=== As an actor ===
 +
 
 +
After his initial training with [[Muriel Alexander]], he gained stage experience at the [[University of the Witwatersrand]] where he did a B.A. in Politics, English, and African Studies (1957) and a B.A.Hons in Politics (1958). While there he acted for the [[Wits University Players]] in ''[[Julius Caesar]]'' (Shakespeare), ''[[The Duchess of Malfi]]'' (Webster) ") and ''[[The Male Animal]]'' (James Thurber), ''[[The Long and the Short and the Tall]]'',
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He also at the time appeared in ''[[Under Milk Wood]]'' (Dylan Thomas) and ''[[Much Ado about Nothing]]'' (Shakespeare) (both for the [[Johannesburg Reps]]), ''[[Oedipus at Colonus]]''  for the Oxford University  Dramatic Society (1958), ''[[The Tempest]]'' (in Johanneburg, directed by [[Cecil Williams]] in 1953  and in Cape Town , directed by [[André van Gyseghem]] in 1959), ''[[The Rape of the Belt]]'' (Cape Town, directed by Van Gyseghem, 1959) and ''[[Tobias and the Angel]]'' (directed by Robert Atkins in London, 1960). Also appeared in [[Hello and Goodbye]] (Fugard) and ''[[A Taste of Honey]]'' ( Worthing ). In Cardiff he appeared for Everyman Theatre[http://www.theatre-wales.co.uk/companies/company_details.asp?ID=98] in productions of ''[[The Crucible]](''Miller),  ''[[The Frogs]]'' (Aristophanes); ''[[Our Country's Good]]'' (Wertenbaker), ''[[The Caucasian Chalk Circle]]'' (Brecht), ''[[Tiny Alice]]'' (Albee), ''[[Hello and Goodbye]]'' (Fugard),  ''[[Boesman and Lena]]''. He also played "Shorty" in ''[[People are Living There]]'' (Fugard) and the voice of "The General" for [[Anthony Akerman]]'s English production of [[André P. Brink]]'s play ''[[Pavane]]'' for the Sherman Arena Company in Cardiff.
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Besides the above, he also performed in a number of his own plays, including ''[[Shades of Brown]]'' (aka ''[[Jannie Veldsman And His Struggle With The Boer]]'', playing [[Jannie Veldsman]]) in London and Wales, "Jaaks" in ''[[Springbok]]'' (Cardiff) and has toured with his one-man performances of his plays ''[[Shaloma]]'' and ''[[The Zulu and the Zeide]]'' (Cardiff , Leeds, Nottingham and London). In the years 2000-2013  he adapted some of the stories of Etgar Keret, as well as his own story ''[[May You Grow Like An Onion With Your Head In The Ground]]'' and performed them in England and Wales.
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=== As a playwright ===
 
   
 
   
He played Polynices in "Oedipus at Colonus" for the Oxford University Dramatic Society (1958). He was directed by Cecil Williams (1953) in Johanneburg and  then by Andre Van Gyseghem (1959in Cape Town  in "The Tempest" as Ariel, and in "The Rape of the Belt" (Cape Town/Van Gyseghem 1959) as Theseus, and then by Robert Atkins in London again as Ariel and as Tobias in "Tobias and the Angel"(1960).  
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His plays and scripts include:
   
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'''Stage texts:'''
His plays "Debbie Come Home" and "Whiteman" were produced on BBC TV and ITV in London (1961 - 1962). His play " Shades of Brown" was produced in London in 1979 with Antony Sher as Captain Jaap Van Tonder for which  Sher was nominated for an Evening Standard award, with the author playing Jannie Veldsman."Ancestors and Diamonds" was performed at the Northcott Theatre Exeter which also revived "Shades of Brown" . "Shades of Brown"  was translated and performed in Denmark, Sweden and Norway in the early 1980's. It played  in New York, Toronto, Brussels and at the Market Theatre in Johannesburg in 1980 with Dale Cutts and Bill Curry. At its student performance earlier that year at the Asoka Theatre at the University in Durban the Special Branch filmed the cast and the audience and the director stopped the show.  
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''[[Whiteman]]'' (1961), ''[[Shades of Brown]]'' (1978), ''[[Springbok]]'' (1979), ''[[Jo'burg Messiah]]''(1980), ''[[The Cape Orchard]]'' (1987),  ''[[Ancestors and Diamonds]]'' (1988), ''[[Shaloma]]'' (2003), ''[[The Zulu and the Zeide]]'' (2004),  ''[[Mandela's Child]]'' (was being written in 2014?) and ''[[African Hamlet]]'' (was being written 2015?).  
"The Cape Orchard" toured England and Wales and came to the Young Vic Theatre in 1987 produced by  the Foco Novo Theatre Company. He played in Albee's Tiny Alice, in Fugard's "Hello and Goodbye" and directed and performed in "Boesman and Lena" for Everyman Theatre in Cardiff. He played Shorty in People are Living There also by Fugard for the Sherman Arena Company. He has toured his one-man performances "Shaloma",  "The Zulu and the Zeide" (inspired by Dan Jacobson's story of that name) based on adaptations from the novel See Under Love by David Grossman ("Momik"), He has dramatised and enacted some of the stories of Etgar Keret, and his own story "May You Grow Like An Onion With Your Head In The Ground" in England and Wales during the years 2000-2013. He has an M.Phil. (Aberystwyth University) on "The Drama and Theatre of Two South African Plays Under Apartheid" (22/9/2009) - about Fatima Dike and Gcina Mhlophe whom he interviewed as part of a cross-section of South African women theatre writers including Clare Stopford, Aletta Bezuitenhout, Reza De Wet, Susan Pam-Grant, Saira Essa, Phyllis Klotz and Poppy Tsira. It contains a psychoanalytic and post-structuralist analysis of theatre generally which is elaborated and put into a wider context in his Ph.D.  
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Three of his plays have been published as part of the portfolio/critical commentary which formed part of his Ph.D. thesis.  
Three of his plays are contained in a portfolio/critical commentary for a Ph.D."Towards a Philosophy of Theatre...."(University of South Wales 14/4/14) published with a new critical commentary as The Classical and the Modern in Three South African Plays by Lap-Lambert, Saarbrucken, Germany (2015.  Other plays include "Mandela's Child" and "African Hamlet" (the latter is still being written). His story "I Had a Black Man" was published in Africa South and his poetry "Trance Dance for the Cape KhoiSan"  appeared in New Coin. "Shades of Brown" was published in Market Plays (Ad. Donker 1986). See his website michaelpicardie.co.uk. for further details and contact e-mail address.
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'''Radio, TV and Film scripts:'''
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''[[Debbie Go Home]]'' (BBC Television, 1962), ''[[Whiteman]]'' (Associated-Rediffusion TV, 1962), ''[[Jannie Veldsman And His Struggle With The Boer]]'' (BBC Radio 4, 1982), ''[[Jannie Veldsman]]'' – A Film Scenario – unpublished script (2012)
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===As a director===
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2008: ''[[Waiting for Godot]]'' (Beckett) for Everyman Theatre, Cardiff at Chapter Theatre (13-17 May).
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20** ''[[Boesman and Lena]]'' (Fugard) for Everyman Theatre, Cardiff
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=== As an academic ===
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His publications include articles on various aspects of social psychology and sociology (see the [[Michael Picardie]] website[http://michaelpicardie.co.uk/main.php.his]).
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Of more immediate interest here however is his post-graduate work in theatre, which began with an M.Phil. (Department of Theatre, Film and T.V., Aberystwyth University) on "The Drama and Theatre of Two South African Plays Under Apartheid" (22/9/2009). It looks at the works by [[Fatima Dike]] and [[Gcina Mhlope]] and contains a psychoanalytic and post-structuralist analysis of theatre generally, which is elaborated on in his Ph.D. thesis (which was published as ''The Classical and the Modern in Three South African Plays'' by Lap-Lambert, Saarbrucken, Germany, in 2015).
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== Sources ==
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Private correspondence from [[Michael Picardie]] to [[Temple Hauptfleisch]], Monday 2015/07/06 10:46 PM.
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http://www.theatre-wales.co.uk/companies/company_details.asp?ID=98
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The [[Michael Picardie]] website at http://michaelpicardie.co.uk/main.php.
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http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/1f3f56f1398748dbbaf26fae13276e2d
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http://bjsw.oxfordjournals.org/content/10/4/483.abstract
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Go to the [[ESAT Bibliography]]
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== Return to ==
 +
 
 +
Return to [[ESAT Personalities  P]]
 +
 
 +
Return to [[South_African_Theatre/Personalities|South African Theatre Personalities]]
 +
 
 +
Return to [[The ESAT Entries]]
 +
 
 +
Return to [[Main Page]]

Latest revision as of 07:29, 7 September 2022

Michael Picardie (1936-) is a South African born academic, actor and playwright.

Biography

He was born in Johannesburg in 1936, where he grew up and was trained in theatre by Muriel Alexander from the age of 11 to 16, and winning Eisteddfod medals for acting. He later studied at the University of the Witwatersrand, obtaining a B.A. in Politics, English, and African Studies (1957) and a B.A.Hons in Politics (1958). He then trained in social work at Liverpool University (1965) and completed an MA based on a dissertation on aspects of psychiatric social work from Leicester University (1970).

Besides his theatrical work (see below), he has worked in child guidance and adult mental health in various parts of the world, including Zimbabwe and Botswana, helped with research into social work with the elderly, and taught at Barnett House, Oxford and the Department of Social Administration, University College, Cardiff, and has published on behaviour theory, interactionist perspectives, mental health advocacy and existentialism in British academic journals.

He settled in Wales, where he later once more became a post graduate student, now in theatre, and continued working as an actor and playwright. He completed a masters degree in Theatre, Film and T.V. Studies (with a thesis entitled The Drama and Theatre of Two South African Plays Under Apartheid) at Abystwyth University (2009) and a Ph.D. at the same university (2014).

Besides his writing for theatre, film and TV, he has also written poetry and prose, including I Had a Black Man, a story published in Africa South and Trance Dance for the Cape KhoiSan, poetry which appeared in New Coin.

Contribution to theatre, film, media and performance in South Africa

As an actor

After his initial training with Muriel Alexander, he gained stage experience at the University of the Witwatersrand where he did a B.A. in Politics, English, and African Studies (1957) and a B.A.Hons in Politics (1958). While there he acted for the Wits University Players in Julius Caesar (Shakespeare), The Duchess of Malfi (Webster) ") and The Male Animal (James Thurber), The Long and the Short and the Tall,

He also at the time appeared in Under Milk Wood (Dylan Thomas) and Much Ado about Nothing (Shakespeare) (both for the Johannesburg Reps), Oedipus at Colonus for the Oxford University Dramatic Society (1958), The Tempest (in Johanneburg, directed by Cecil Williams in 1953 and in Cape Town , directed by André van Gyseghem in 1959), The Rape of the Belt (Cape Town, directed by Van Gyseghem, 1959) and Tobias and the Angel (directed by Robert Atkins in London, 1960). Also appeared in Hello and Goodbye (Fugard) and A Taste of Honey ( Worthing ). In Cardiff he appeared for Everyman Theatre[1] in productions of The Crucible(Miller), The Frogs (Aristophanes); Our Country's Good (Wertenbaker), The Caucasian Chalk Circle (Brecht), Tiny Alice (Albee), Hello and Goodbye (Fugard), Boesman and Lena. He also played "Shorty" in People are Living There (Fugard) and the voice of "The General" for Anthony Akerman's English production of André P. Brink's play Pavane for the Sherman Arena Company in Cardiff.

Besides the above, he also performed in a number of his own plays, including Shades of Brown (aka Jannie Veldsman And His Struggle With The Boer, playing Jannie Veldsman) in London and Wales, "Jaaks" in Springbok (Cardiff) and has toured with his one-man performances of his plays Shaloma and The Zulu and the Zeide (Cardiff , Leeds, Nottingham and London). In the years 2000-2013 he adapted some of the stories of Etgar Keret, as well as his own story May You Grow Like An Onion With Your Head In The Ground and performed them in England and Wales.

As a playwright

His plays and scripts include:

Stage texts:

Whiteman (1961), Shades of Brown (1978), Springbok (1979), Jo'burg Messiah(1980), The Cape Orchard (1987), Ancestors and Diamonds (1988), Shaloma (2003), The Zulu and the Zeide (2004), Mandela's Child (was being written in 2014?) and African Hamlet (was being written 2015?).

Three of his plays have been published as part of the portfolio/critical commentary which formed part of his Ph.D. thesis.

Radio, TV and Film scripts:

Debbie Go Home (BBC Television, 1962), Whiteman (Associated-Rediffusion TV, 1962), Jannie Veldsman And His Struggle With The Boer (BBC Radio 4, 1982), Jannie Veldsman – A Film Scenario – unpublished script (2012)

As a director

2008: Waiting for Godot (Beckett) for Everyman Theatre, Cardiff at Chapter Theatre (13-17 May).

20** Boesman and Lena (Fugard) for Everyman Theatre, Cardiff

As an academic

His publications include articles on various aspects of social psychology and sociology (see the Michael Picardie website[2]).

Of more immediate interest here however is his post-graduate work in theatre, which began with an M.Phil. (Department of Theatre, Film and T.V., Aberystwyth University) on "The Drama and Theatre of Two South African Plays Under Apartheid" (22/9/2009). It looks at the works by Fatima Dike and Gcina Mhlope and contains a psychoanalytic and post-structuralist analysis of theatre generally, which is elaborated on in his Ph.D. thesis (which was published as The Classical and the Modern in Three South African Plays by Lap-Lambert, Saarbrucken, Germany, in 2015).

Sources

Private correspondence from Michael Picardie to Temple Hauptfleisch, Monday 2015/07/06 10:46 PM.

http://www.theatre-wales.co.uk/companies/company_details.asp?ID=98

The Michael Picardie website at http://michaelpicardie.co.uk/main.php.

http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/1f3f56f1398748dbbaf26fae13276e2d

http://bjsw.oxfordjournals.org/content/10/4/483.abstract

Go to the ESAT Bibliography

Return to

Return to ESAT Personalities P

Return to South African Theatre Personalities

Return to The ESAT Entries

Return to Main Page