Vlyt en Kunst

Vlyt en Kunst (1834 to 1838) was a private Dutch amateur theatre company in Cape Town.

History

The company was founded and managed by J.T. van der Chys, with J.J. de Kock as secretary, and C.E. Boniface now the leading artistic figure, who wrote, translated and undoubtedly staged some works for the company.

Vlyt en Kunst is first mentioned by this name only in 1834, though the company itself claimed (in 1835) that it had been in existence for 3 years by then (i.e. had been founded in 1833), which leads Bosman (1928, p. 321) to argue that it had flowed directly out of an earlier company, Door Yver Bloeit de Kunst (floreat 1833), particularly since J.T. van der Chys had played the same management role in the earlier company. The company was active till 1838, when two opposing groups formed within the company - one led by De Kock. By the end of 1838 this internal strife had caused the break-up of the company.

Performances

The company performed in Dutch, with most of the productions taking place in what was known as the Liefhebbery Toneel ( i.e. Amateur Theatre in English) , though they also occasionally used the African Theatre.

Plays performed included:

Het Schandmerk, of De Twee Galeiboeven (Boirie, Carmouche and Poujol), Het Dorp aan de Grenzen, of De Hollanders en de Brabanders (J. van Lennep),

Clasius (Boniface), De Burger Edelman (Molière). .

[TH, JH]

Sources

F.C.L. Bosman, 1928. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel I: 1652-1855. Pretoria: J.H. de Bussy. [1]: pp. 320-342.

P.J. du Toit, 1988. Amateurtoneel in Suid-Afrika. Pretoria: Academica

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