Portrait of an Afrikaner revolutionary: Harry Kalmer's The Bram Fischer Waltz

Abstract

Nelson Mandela and seven of his comrades were sentenced to life imprisonment for treason on 12 June 1964 (the final day of the notorious Rivonia trial). The leader for the defence was an Afrikaner, Bram Fischer. In Kalmer's play about Fischer the spotlight is on Fischer (the biographical subject). The political beliefs and personal life of this well-known and controversial figure in South African history give ample material for dramatic and theatrical interpretation. In this short biographical play, with Fischer as the main narrator of his own story, the political and ideological contexts of the period, as experienced by Fischer, are intertwined with the personal, namely his love for his wife, Molly Krige, and children, Ruth, Ilse and Paul. One of the most ironic incidents, namely the assistance Fischer received from Raymond Schoop (a set designer for Performing Arts Council of the Transvaal - PACT), after being found guilty of treason himself, is discussed in some detail. The role Fischer played in his wife's tragic death is another incident used by Kalmer to great theatrical effect in this play and is foregrounded in the discussion.