"Theatre as a Memory Machine": Magrita Prinslo (1896) and Donkerland (1996)

Abstract

In Jill Fletcher’s well-known book on the history of South African theatre, entitled The Story of South African Theatre: 1780-1930 (1994), she gives a fascinating overview of the establishment of a theatre tradition in South Africa during the 18th and 19th centuries. The influence of certain historical events and the impact of various political regimes at the Cape of Good Hope during this period all left traces on the development of such a tradition. The colonisation of the Cape of Good Hope first by Dutch settlers (1652-1806) and then the more prolonged colonisation of the Cape and South Africa by the British (from 1806 till 1961) led to the development of two mainstream European theatre traditions in South Africa: one that was mainly influenced by the British theatre tradition, and one that was clearly to a greater extent influenced by the European (Dutch, German, French) tradition. Afrikaans drama and theatre developed from the latter tradition. I want to highlight in this article the importance of only two plays in this tradition, namely S.J. du Toit’s Magrita Prinslo (1896) and Deon Opperman’s Donkerland (1996). Whilst du Toit’s play is scarcely known or remembered by contemporary Afrikaans audiences and is relegated to the annals of South African/Afrikaans theatre history, Opperman’s play is well known, has received the most prestigious Afrikaans (literary) award (namely the Hertzog Prize) and is today widely studied by students, scholars and researchers. The discussion will be placed within the broader context of a contemporary interest in drama and theatre studies, namely a focus on the relationship between theatre and memory. This interest is evident in a number of recent studies (notably Marvin Carlson’s The Haunted Stage: The Theatre as Memory Machine). A comparative reading of these two Afrikaans plays, namely Magrita Prinslo (1896) and Donkerland (1996), will focus on the theme of Afrikaner nationalism as a common theme linking these two historical plays. The main concepts and ideas associated with this theme as highlighted in this discussion are: the (re)interpretation of certain events within Afrikaner history and the relationship with the indigenous people of this land; the Afrikaans language; and the volksmoeder theme.