who was aletta bezuidenhout? Renowned actress Aletta Bezuidenhout has sadly passed away at the age of 76. Originally from Nairobi, Kenya, where her father worked as an engineer, Bezuidenhout received her training at the University of Cape Town (UCT) under the tutelage of Professors Rosalie van der Gucht, Robert Mohr and Mavis Taylor. Throughout the 1970s, she graced the stage in numerous productions at the Space Theatre, a pivotal alternative theatre space in Cape Town. Among these productions were Dusa Stas Fish and Vi, The Resistable Rise of Arturo UI, and Treats. Her noteworthy performances for the Performing Arts Councils included Reza de Wet’s Drie Susters Twee (Three Sisters Two, ArtsCape) and Oscar in Afrika (Aardklop, 1999). As a playwright, her repertoire encompasses Time of Footsteps (Windybrow Theatre), Silent Envelope (Market Theatre – Director), Angel in a Dark Room (Adcock Ingram Theatre), and Little Big World (Market Theatre). Additionally, she directed Straws, her play, at the Pot-Pourri Festival in 1985. She also appeared in numerous films, including Lied van die Lappop, In My Country and Orion, among others. Within theatre you frequently find good pairings – director/actor relationships that work. In South Africa we have had Athol Fugard and Yvonne Bryceland, Francois Swart and Sandra Prinsloo, Marthinus Bason and Antoinette Kellerman and Aletta and Barney Simon. Aletta Bezuidenhout was most often Barney Simon’s go-to actress. He understood her and she him. By looking back on this curious synergy, Aletta gives us insights into Barney Simon, a legendary director who had an enormous impact on South African theatre, his unrelenting energy, his unique directing techniques. Whether loved, feared, or criticised, these do not detract from his legacy. Aletta offers a close-up view. A view too of the ‘making of the Market’ of which she was part. Aletta is pensive and focused, intelligent, and articulate, giving the viewer a clear look into the world of an actor: the insecurities, the challenges, the struggle of taking on the mantle of any one of the characters Aletta took on and excelled with: Galactia, in Scenes from an Execution, Abbie in Begeerte, Masha in Drie Susters Twee, Cleopatra … All big characters in the theatrical world. Aletta is herself a playwright. From an eccentric Afrikaans family who lived in Kenya at the time of the Mau-Mau Uprising, then to a farm in the Lowveld, she has explored hers and her family’s archetypes and turned them into compelling plays. She has many stories still to tell, but for now she is proudly a mother of two and a grandmother who just wants to enjoy her grandchildren. She sees her life’s cycle with so much clarity you can but love her and hope for more to come from her. Johan Engelbrecht, an award-winning author, actor, singer and designer, paid tribute to her on Facebook: Bezuidenhout’s contributions garnered her numerous accolades, including a DALRO award for Best Actress for Klaaglied vir Koos and Anthony and Cleopatra, Scenes from an Execution, and The Maids, for which she received both a DALRO and Vita award for Best Actress. In 1997, she clinched an FNB Vita award for Best Lead Actress in Drie Susters Twee. ‘Aletta Bezuidenhout was a luminary of South African theatre, casting a brilliant presence before the movie cameras. Her powerful performance in the Afrikaans rendition of Bertolt Brecht’s Mutter Mut und ihre Kinder remains etched in my memory,’ says Anroux Marais, Western Cape minister of cultural affairs and sport. ‘It was a tour de force – robust theatre, and truly magnificent. Her capacity to breathe life into any character with her immense talent has indelibly marked South African film and theatre. My sincere condolences go out to her family and friends during this challenging period.’