Taferele, tableaux vivants, tablo's en die vroee Afrikaanse drama (1850-1950)

Abstract

In hierdie artikel word aan die hand van verskeie teaterhistoriese bronne nagegaan in watter mate die tafereel, tableau vivant en ander vorme van die tablo neerslag gevind het in die vroeë Afrikaanse drama (1850–1950). Aangesien die ontstaansgeskiedenis van die vroeë Afrikaanse drama en teater ten nouste gebonde is aan die vestiging daarvan deur rederykerskamers (veral Aurora) aan die Kaap, is hierdie konvensie ook nagevolg binne hierdie konteks. Aangesien die tafereel so ’n lang geskiedenis het en reeds voorkom in die heel vroegste vorme van drama en teater (veral in die sogenaamde prosessieteater) moes daar ook met ’n wyer historiese blik na hierdie konvensie gekyk word. Die tafereel se verbintenis met die tableau vivant, asook met andere vorme van die tablo is nagevolg. Alhoewel daar in die Suid-Afrikaanse teaterhistoriese bronne min direkte verwysings na hierdie konvensie is, sou mens wel kon aflei dat die algemene voorkoms en gewildheid van hierdie konvensie (veral in die vorm van die tableau vivant) in 19de-eeuse Westerse drama en teater die Suid-Afrikaanse toneel moes beïnvloed het. So ’n siening word ondersteun deur die feit dat verskeie teatergeselskappe via die Kaap na die Ooste (onder ander Indonesië) en Australië gereis het waar hierdie konvensie ook gedurende hierdie tydperk algemeen gevind word. Binne die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks verwys ek kortliks na twee voorbeelde, naamlik die gebruik van die tafereel in S.J. du Toit se Magrita Prinslo (1896) en die voorbeeld van ’n tableau vivant in Jan F. Celliers se Heldinne van die oorlog (1913). Die onderskeid wat Meisel (1983) maak tussen tableau vivant, dramatiese tablo’s (veral algemeen gebruik in die melodrama) en ander tablo’s (veral historiese tablo’s soos te vinde in kultuurfeeste soos die “Pageant of the Union of South Africa” in 1910, asook die Groot Trek se herdenking en inwyding van die Voortrekkermonument in 1949), word ook in hierdie artikel nagevolg. Abstract

Taferele, tableaux vivants, tableau and the early Afrikaans drama (1850–1950)

The focus of this article is to try and determine how the tafereel, tableau vivant and other forms of the tableau can be traced in early Afrikaans drama (1850–1950). The main theoretical framework of this study is, therefore, a theatre historical approach. Since the history of the early Afrikaans drama and theatre is closely bound up with the establishment of theatre in the Cape through the endeavours of the rhetoricians’ chambers (especially Aurora), this convention was also traced within this context. Since the tafereel/tablo convention has such a long theatrical history and can be found within the earliest forms of drama and theatre (especially in the so-called procession theatre) I also had to place this convention within its wider historical context. The tafereel is often also linked to the tableau vivant, as well as to other forms of the tableau, and the popularity of the tableau vivant in the 19th century – especially in Western theatre – is also given in a few localised short discussions (New York, Indonesia).

The article starts with a short introductory discussion where I list the most important early South African theatre historians (Bosman, Binge, Laidler, Racster, Fletcher), as well as the work by Stassen and Koch, where the important link between early Afrikaans drama and theatre and Dutch theatre (especially the role played by Aurora) is highlighted. Characteristic of the origin and development of the early Dutch and Flemish rhetorician chambers was the establishment of amateur theatre in these chambers (Brandt) – a situation also found in the Cape. Brandt differentiates between the early development and flowering of these guilds in the 15th to 17th centuries in these countries and their later revival in the 19th century – albeit with specific changes. The influence in South Africa would, therefore, rather be from the perspective of the 19th-century rhetoricians than from their earlier counterparts (as also indicated by Stassen and Koch). It is, however, interesting to note that the theatre convention discussed in this article, namely the tafereel (also known in its older, more Dutch form as the toog) can be found in plays of both the early and later rhetorician chambers.

The question Bosman (1928:12) asks, namely what the influence of the Dutch rhetoricians was on early Cape theatre, also interested me. While Bosman worked mainly from the broader perspective of a historical overview I tried, rather, to use a particular theatrical convention (tafereel or tableau vivant) to demonstrate a definite relationship between early Dutch/Afrikaans theatre at the Cape and its European roots. Such a relationship is to be expected simply from the fact that a Dutch community was established at the Cape in the 17th century, the prominent role played by Aurora (founded mainly by members who emigrated from the Netherlands to the Cape) and even by Dutch travelling actors and theatre companies visiting South Africa. It soon became fairly obvious that in spite of the thorough theatre historical overviews given in the work by Bosman, Binge, and other theatre historians, very little really detailed information is given about particular plays of this period. Many dramatic texts have also been lost through time and contemporary references to these plays very seldom give any information about the performances of these plays and/or which theatrical conventions were used.

I use the distinctions made by Martin Meisel (1983) in his seminal work Realizations: Narrative, Pictorial, and Theatrical Arts in Nineteenth-century England, namely between tableaux vivants, dramatic tableaux and other (mainly historical) tableaux. It also soon became apparent that one had to look at these conventions from outside the strict limitation of traditional drama and theatre to what is commonly known as popular entertainment and culture (inter alia processions, pageants, historical commemorations and festivals).

It is clear that the performing arts and the fine arts are brought together through the theatrical convention of the tafereel, die tableau vivant and the dramatic tableaux. Meisel (1983:38–51) describes the 19th century in England as the “age of illustration”. He also links the rise of the melodrama within this context and foregrounds the terms situation and effect and their use within the dramatic tableau. The frozen moment – based mainly on a visual given (for example the pose of the actor/group of actors) – therefore creates a specific dramatic effect. Meisel’s distinction between the dramatic tableau (“arrested motion”) and the tableau vivant (to bring “stillness to life”) was found to be very useful and is illustrated in short discussions of the tafereel (Magrita Prinslo by S.J. du Toit, 1896) and the tableau vivant (Heldinne van die oorlog by Jan F.E. Celliers, 1924).

The discussion continues with a focus on the use of the tableau – especially within popular culture (pageants, festivals) and often linked to the propagation of nationalist ideals and beliefs (e.g. the 1910 Pageant of the Union of South Africa and the 1938 centenary celebrations of the Great Trek).

In conclusion I state that a study of the tafereel, tableau vivant and tableau within early Afrikaans drama and theatre should be placed within the wider context of popular culture at the Cape (approximately 1850–1900) and the greater South Africa (approximately 1910–1950). These conventions can also been seen in an even bigger context, namely especially the Western interest in the 19th century in, inter alia, the visual effect created and attained through these conventions and others (dumb shows, pantomimes, etc.). The dissemination of these “fashion trends” of the period was made possible by means of numerous travelling theatre companies, circuses and visits by individual artists from Europe, England and America to South Africa, Australia, Indonesia, etc. According to Brandt (1993:365) the tableau vivant was also a well-known and popular convention within the Netherlands between the 17th and 19th centuries – both in the theatre and in popular and public representations.

Although one does not always find direct references within South African theatre historical studies regarding the use of tableaux vivants, taferele or tableaux during the genesis of Western theatre at the Cape, one can make the assumption that these conventions would have been generally known to the Cape rhetoricians in view of their strong links to the Dutch rhetoricians’ guilds and would, therefore, have been in general use in early Afrikaans drama and theatre.

I could not find traces in South Africa of the “erotic” direction which the tableaux vivant took in France (as well as in other European countries) and New York. One could speculate that the Cape community in the 19th century and the later Afrikaans community of the first half of the 20th century were simply too conservative to follow this development. From the sources consulted it is clear that the historical tableau was really the direction in which the tableau convention developed in South Africa. Many examples of this convention can be found, inter alia in the 1910 Pageant of the Union, the centenary celebrations of the Great Trek in 1938 and the Van Riebeeck festiva. In all of these cases the use of the tablo is very clearly linked to nationalist intentions, namely those of Afrikaner Nationalism during the first half of the 20th century.

Clear demarcations between the different terms/conventions are also not always followed by the various theoreticians. The overlapping of characteristics (for example the “frozen moment”) also meant that the various terms are often simply used interchangeably. Most theorists, however, do emphasise, when using the term tableau vivant, the link between this theatrical convention and the fine arts. While the word tafereel gradually took on the meaning of simply being a “scene or episode” in the Afrikaans drama and theatre context, the word tableau (tablo in Afrikaans) came to be used more generally. Although one could name the 1910 Pageant of South Africa as a first example of the use of historical tableaux with a clear nationalistic intention, this type of tableau experienced its greatest popularity in the period of the rise and establishment of Afrikaner Nationalism from the 1930s until the 1950s. The use of the dramatic tableau – especially in the melodramas of the 19th and 20th centuries – became a very common convention within Afrikaans theatre and is still often used in theatre (inter alia also in the popular sub-genre of the television soap!).