……BY BILLY SUTER……
A DRAMA originally written in Afrikaans by late South African playwright Reza de Wet and translated into English by KickstArt’s Steven Stead, is to be presented at Durban’s Durban Girls’ College (DGC) soon.
The production, which will feature a set by KickstArt’s award-winning Greg King, is Missing (original title, Mis). It delves into the mystery behind two young women who go missing from a small town in the Platteland, over two consecutive years when the circus had visited the town.
It is now the following year. The circus has returned, and the people of the town are on edge as police roam the area, suspecting something of a similar nature may occur. We meet a family living on a smallholding and take a peek at their lives at this tense and nerve-wracking time.
A wonderful blend of realism, magical realism and evocative storytelling unravel the events and characters…
Missing will be performed by senior students at Durban Girls’ College and is directed by Wendy Watson, head of dramatic arts at the school. Sound, lighting and special effects will be by Luke Holder.
Only five performances of Missing are scheduled for the DGC Lecture Theatre at the college, at 586 Musgrave Road. These are at 6pm on Tuesday, February 25; and at 10.30am and 6pm on both Wednesday and Thursday, February 26 and 27.
“Durban Girls’ College is thrilled to share this powerful play with audiences from the age of 13 years upwards. Book now to avoid disappointment,” says a school spokesman.
The production is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals Ltd, on behalf of Samuel French Ltd. Tickets cost R80 each and are available online via Quicket.
Reza de Wet, who died of leukaemia in 2012, was a South African playwright known for her significant contributions to South African theatre. Born in Senekal in the Free State, she graduated from the University of Cape Town drama school and worked as an actress. later obtaining a master’s degree in English literature, She went on to lecture in the drama department of Rhodes University.
Over a span of 15 years, reports Wikipedia, De Wet wrote 12 plays, five in English and seven in Afrikaans. She won numerous awards for her work, including five Vita Awards, three Fleur du Cap awards and a Dalro Award. Her literary accolades include one CNA Prize, one Rapport Prize, and two Hertzog Prizes.
Productions of her plays have garnered more than 40 theatre awards. Her play Yelena won the Vita Award for Best Script in 1998-1999, and Drie Susters Twee, an Afrikaans adaptation of The Three Sisters, was named Best Production for the same year.
De Wet’s play Diepe Grond is a notable work that premiered at the Market Theatre in Johannesburg. The play serves as a critique of the moral decay resulting from the country’s racist policies. In 2024, a feature film adaptation, titled White Devils, was directed by Gabriel Bologna.
Interestingly, Durban’s KickstArt theatre company staged an English production of Diepe Grond at Durban’s now-defunct Kwasuka Theatre, in Greyville, in June 2003. Titled Run to Ground, that play took place in an isolated farmhouse on the Platteland and centred on troubled siblings Sussie (Belinda Harward) and Frikkie (Steven Stead), who live in their own incestuous fantasy world until a lawyer (Franz Dubrowsky) arrives and demands that they return to the city.
.....SoSuterBill..... 