Michaelhouse’s Schlesinger Theatre will present Bosman’s Patriots directed by Janéne
Steenkamp. It is written and
performed by Tim Sandham and Angus Douglas.
Tim is an expert on
Bosman, having co-written (with Professor Craig MacKenzie) A Bosman Companion – a definitive cross referenced guide on South
Africa’s greatest humourist.
Bosman’s Patriots is the fifth production from Tim and Angus
to deal with the life and works of Herman Charles Bosman. The two Bosmanphiles
are regulars at the Bosman Literary Festival, held in Groot Marico every
October.
In Bosman’s Patriots, Angus plays a liberal
literary philosopher titled Hank Henning. Hank has been given a grant of 25,000
US dollars for a paper, and a lecture, on Literature
of the Soil. He is to present his paper at the Harry Ransom Centre at the
University of Texas at Austin. Tim plays Archie Archeson, a conservative
old-school archivist windowless office in the basement of the National Archive.
Archie has the unenviable task of fending off the outrageous requests (“No, I
can’t find any evidence that the Union Buildings were part of some ancient
civilisation”) of his boss, Ms Thuli Dlamini. Hank has the more enviable task
of helping Thuli get over her divorce.
Over a series of
funny and informative scenes, Archie manages to convince Hank that he should
deliver his paper on Herman Charles Bosman – “a platteland patriot – passionate
about the soil, a city boy speaking up for those grizzled backvelders, both
black and white, living in the dry and dusty expanses of our beautiful land.”
Bosman created his
own oeuvre: Bosmanesque. He developed a uniquely South African literary
sensibility and he richly re-imagined the South African landscape both cultural
and physical. His 160 short stories constitute a literary opus, an extended
love-letter to a country so blessed with character. Bosman’s Patriots evokes the soul of Bosman and the spirit of his
writing; it interrogates the question of Bosman’s legacy, and his attitudes to
politics and race.
Bosman’s Patriots makes use of rarely seen AV material that
includes interviews with people who knew him, and championed his work: e.g.
Gordon Vorster, Aegidius Jean Blign Tim is an expert on Bosman, having
co-written (with Professor Craig MacKenzie) A Bosman Companion – a definitive
cross referenced guide on South Africa’s greatest humourist.
Bosman’s Patriots
is the fifth production from Tim and Angus to deal with the life and works of
Herman Charles Bosman. The two Bosmanphiles are regulars at the Bosman Literary
Festival, held in Groot Marico every October.
In Bosman’s
Patriots Angus plays Hank Henning - a liberal literary philosopher. Hank has
been given a grant of 25 000 US dollars for a paper, and a lecture, on
‘Literature of the Soil’. He is to present his paper at the Harry Ransom Centre
at the University of Texas at Austin. Tim plays Archie Archeson, a conservative
old-school archivist windowless office in the basement of the National Archive.
Archie has the unenviable task of fending off the outrageous requests (“No, I
can’t find any evidence that the Union Buildings were part of some ancient
civilisation”) of his boss, Ms Thuli Dlamini. Hank has the more enviable task
of helping Thuli get over her divorce.
Over a series of
funny and informative scenes, Archie manages to convince Hank that he should
deliver his paper on Herman Charles Bosman – “a platteland patriot – passionate
about the soil, a city boy speaking up for those grizzled backvelders, both
black and white, living in the dry and dusty expanses of our beautiful land.”
Bosman created his
own oeuvre: Bosmanesque. He developed a uniquely South African literary
sensibility, and he richly re-imagined the South African landscape - both
cultural and physical. His 160 short stories constitute a literary opus, an
extended love-letter to a country so blessed with character. Bosman’s Patriots
evokes the soul of Bosman and the spirit of his writing; it interrogates the
question of Bosman’s legacy, and his attitudes to politics and race.
Bosman’s Patriots
makes use of rarely seen AV material that includes interviews with people who
knew him, and championed his work: e.g. Gordon Vorster, Aegidius Jean Blignaut,
Bernard Sachs et al. It also includes projected images of Bosman’s rarely seen
water-colours.
Bosman’s Patriots
is poignant, informative, and side-splittingly funny – a worthy addition to
South Africa’s literary landscape.
Santa van Baart
(Director of the Herman Charles Bosman Literary Festival): “Angus and Tim are
festival favourites. Their latest production, Bosman’s Patriots, is wise, warm and witty. I urge anyone, who has
any interest in Bosman, or South African literature, to see it.”
Bosman’s Patriots is poignant, informative, and
side-splittingly funny – a worthy addition to South Africa’s literary
landscape. The show includes projected images of Bosman’s rarely seen watercolours.
Santa van Baart
(Director of the Herman Charles Bosman Literary Festival) says: “Angus and Tim
are festival favourites. Their latest production, Bosman’s Patriots, is wise, warm and witty. I urge anyone, who has
any interest in Bosman, or South African literature, to see it.”
Bosman’s Patriots has a performance on September 12 at 19h30 at
the Schlesinger Theatre at Michaelhouse. Tickets R80 (R60 concesssions. Booking
through Mrs Angela Jonsson at theatre@michaelhouse.org or call 033 234 1314 (Weekdays between
08h00 and 13h00)