Paul Herzberg
Encyclopedia
Paul Herzberg is a South African-born actor and playwright
.
Born in Cape Town
, he studied acting at the University of Cape Town
and scriptwriting at the University of Pretoria
. He moved to the UK in 1976, after having served as a conscripted soldier on the Namibian border, during the period of the Angolan war. He then studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
.
As an actor, his film and television appearances include Cry Freedom
, Smiley's People
, Agatha Christie's Poirot
- Dumb Witness
and The Life And Loves Of A she-Devil. He co-wrote and starred in the feature film, Almost Heaven
.
On stage, played Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire
at the Mermaid Theatre
. He is a regular at Manchester's Royal Exchange where his roles have included Bluntschli in Arms And The Man, Shorty in People Are Living There, Colbert in While The Sun Shines, Captain Papa Louw in his award-winning play The Dead Wait
and recently as Capulet in Romeo And Juliet
. He has appeared twice at the Chichester Festival theatre, first as Gratiano in The Merchant Of Venice
(with Sir Alec Guinness
as Shylock); and then in Carrington, as Mark Gertler. In 2003, he played John Vorster in Sir Antony Sher
's play I.D. at the Almeida theatre
.
Herzberg first began writing for BBC Radio
in 1992 with the 60 minute play The Song Of My Father; followed by several plays and short stories. His short radio play Where's The Bull?, won the London Radio playwright's festival in 1992 and was broadcast on LBC Radio.
His stage play The Dead Wait is based on the story of a young South African athlete who is a conscripted
soldier in the Angolan Civil War
and was shortlisted for the Verity Bargate Award in 1997. The story also reflects Herzberg's own experiences as a conscripted soldier before leaving South Africa. The Dead Wait was broadcast on BBC Radio and received its theatrical world premiere' at the Barney Simon
Theatre at the Market, in 1997. In 2002 it received its British premiere' at the Royal Exchange in Manchester, with Herzberg in the role of Captain Papa Louw, where it was nominated for three Manchester Evenings News Awards (best new play, production and actor) winning in the last category. The play was published by Oberon books.
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
.
Born in Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, he studied acting at the University of Cape Town
University of Cape Town
The University of Cape Town is a public research university located in Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. UCT was founded in 1829 as the South African College, and is the oldest university in South Africa and the second oldest extant university in Africa.-History:The roots of...
and scriptwriting at the University of Pretoria
University of Pretoria
The University of Pretoria is a multi campus public research university located in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa...
. He moved to the UK in 1976, after having served as a conscripted soldier on the Namibian border, during the period of the Angolan war. He then studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art is a leading British drama school in west London. LAMDA's president is Timothy West and its new principal is Joanna Read, who recently succeeded Peter James...
.
As an actor, his film and television appearances include Cry Freedom
Cry Freedom
Cry Freedom is a 1987 British drama film directed by Richard Attenborough, set in the late 1970s, during the apartheid era of South Africa. It was written from a screenplay by John Briley based on a pair of books by journalist Donald Woods...
, Smiley's People
Smiley's People
Smiley's People is a spy novel by John le Carré, published in 1979. Featuring British master-spy George Smiley, it is the third and final novel of the "Karla Trilogy", following Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and The Honourable Schoolboy...
, Agatha Christie's Poirot
Agatha Christie's Poirot
Agatha Christie's Poirot is a British television drama that has aired on ITV since 1989. It stars David Suchet as Agatha Christie's fictional detective Hercule Poirot. It was originally made by LWT and is now made by ITV Studios...
- Dumb Witness
Dumb Witness
Dumb Witness is a detective fiction novel by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on July 5 1937 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year under the title of Poirot Loses a Client...
and The Life And Loves Of A she-Devil. He co-wrote and starred in the feature film, Almost Heaven
Almost Heaven
Almost Heaven is the tenth regular studio album by European-American pop group The Kelly Family. Based on concept by Dan Kelly, it was co-produced by Kathy and Paddy Kelly and released in 1996 throughout most of Europe....
.
On stage, played Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire
A Streetcar Named Desire (play)
A Streetcar Named Desire is a 1947 play written by American playwright Tennessee Williams for which he received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1948. The play opened on Broadway on December 3, 1947, and closed on December 17, 1949, in the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. The Broadway production was...
at the Mermaid Theatre
Mermaid Theatre
The Mermaid Theatre was a theatre at Puddle Dock, in Blackfriars, in the City of London and the first built there since the time of Shakespeare...
. He is a regular at Manchester's Royal Exchange where his roles have included Bluntschli in Arms And The Man, Shorty in People Are Living There, Colbert in While The Sun Shines, Captain Papa Louw in his award-winning play The Dead Wait
The Dead Wait
The Dead Wait is a play by Paul Herzberg which tells the tale of a young South African athlete, conscripted as a soldier in the Angolan Civil War, who tries to own up to a crime on arriving back home. Partly autobiographical, it draws on Herzberg's similar experiences prior to his leaving South...
and recently as Capulet in Romeo And Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
. He has appeared twice at the Chichester Festival theatre, first as Gratiano in The Merchant Of Venice
The Merchant of Venice
The Merchant of Venice is a tragic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. Though classified as a comedy in the First Folio and sharing certain aspects with Shakespeare's other romantic comedies, the play is perhaps most remembered for its dramatic...
(with Sir Alec Guinness
Alec Guinness
Sir Alec Guinness, CH, CBE was an English actor. He was featured in several of the Ealing Comedies, including Kind Hearts and Coronets in which he played eight different characters. He later won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Colonel Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai...
as Shylock); and then in Carrington, as Mark Gertler. In 2003, he played John Vorster in Sir Antony Sher
Antony Sher
Sir Antony Sher, KBE is a double Olivier Award winning South African-born British actor, writer, theatre director and painter.- Early years :...
's play I.D. at the Almeida theatre
Almeida Theatre
The Almeida Theatre, opened in 1980, is a 325 seat studio theatre with an international reputation which takes its name from the street in which it is located, off Upper Street, in the London Borough of Islington. The theatre produces a diverse range of drama and holds an annual summer festival of...
.
Herzberg first began writing for BBC Radio
BBC Radio
BBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. For a history of BBC radio prior to 1927 see British Broadcasting Company...
in 1992 with the 60 minute play The Song Of My Father; followed by several plays and short stories. His short radio play Where's The Bull?, won the London Radio playwright's festival in 1992 and was broadcast on LBC Radio.
His stage play The Dead Wait is based on the story of a young South African athlete who is a conscripted
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
soldier in the Angolan Civil War
Angolan Civil War
The Angolan Civil War was a major civil conflict in the Southern African state of Angola, beginning in 1975 and continuing, with some interludes, until 2002. The war began immediately after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. Prior to this, a decolonisation conflict had taken...
and was shortlisted for the Verity Bargate Award in 1997. The story also reflects Herzberg's own experiences as a conscripted soldier before leaving South Africa. The Dead Wait was broadcast on BBC Radio and received its theatrical world premiere' at the Barney Simon
Barney Simon
Barney Simon was a South African writer, playwright and director.- Early life :The son of working-class Lithuanian Jewish immigrants, Simon discovered a love of theatre while working under director Joan Littlewood in London in the 1950s...
Theatre at the Market, in 1997. In 2002 it received its British premiere' at the Royal Exchange in Manchester, with Herzberg in the role of Captain Papa Louw, where it was nominated for three Manchester Evenings News Awards (best new play, production and actor) winning in the last category. The play was published by Oberon books.
Selected film and television roles
- The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission, (1985) - as Private Reynolds
- Murder City, Just Seventeen (2006) - as Max Edwards
- Heartbeat, Music of the Spheres (2003) - as Marek Starosta
- The Inspector Lynley MysteriesThe Inspector Lynley MysteriesThe Inspector Lynley Mysteries is a series of BBC television programmes about Detective Inspector Thomas "Tommy" Lynley, 8th Earl of Asherton of Scotland Yard and Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers...
, Well Schooled in Murder (2002) - as Barry Summers - The Famous FiveThe Famous Five (characters)The Famous Five is the name of a series of children's novels written by British author Enid Blyton. The first book, Five on a Treasure Island, was published in 1942....
, Five Have a Mystery to Solve (1996) - Emilio - Agatha Christie's PoirotAgatha Christie's PoirotAgatha Christie's Poirot is a British television drama that has aired on ITV since 1989. It stars David Suchet as Agatha Christie's fictional detective Hercule Poirot. It was originally made by LWT and is now made by ITV Studios...
- Dumb WitnessDumb WitnessDumb Witness is a detective fiction novel by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on July 5 1937 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year under the title of Poirot Loses a Client...
(1996) - as Jacob Tanios - Soldier SoldierSoldier SoldierSoldier Soldier is a British television drama series. The title comes from a traditional song of the same name.Produced by Central Television and broadcast on the ITV network, it ran for a total of seven series and 82 episodes from 1991 to 1997...
, Staying Together (1993) - as Kurt - LovejoyLovejoyLovejoy is a TV series about the adventures of Lovejoy, a British antiques dealer and faker based in East Anglia, a less than scrupulous yet likeable rogue. The episodes were based on a series of picaresque novels by John Grant...
, Benin Bronze (1992) - as Andre - Cry FreedomCry FreedomCry Freedom is a 1987 British drama film directed by Richard Attenborough, set in the late 1970s, during the apartheid era of South Africa. It was written from a screenplay by John Briley based on a pair of books by journalist Donald Woods...
(1987) - as Beukes - Smiley's PeopleSmiley's PeopleSmiley's People is a spy novel by John le Carré, published in 1979. Featuring British master-spy George Smiley, it is the third and final novel of the "Karla Trilogy", following Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and The Honourable Schoolboy...
(1982) (mini) - as Villem Craven - The ProfessionalsThe Professionals (TV series)The Professionals was a British crime-action television drama series produced by Avengers Mk1 Productions and London Weekend Television that aired on the ITV network from 1977 to 1983. In all, 57 episodes were produced, filmed between 1977 and 1981. It starred Martin Shaw, Lewis Collins and Gordon...
, Mixed Doubles (1980) - as Serpoy
Selected theatre roles
- Arms And The Man (1989) - as Bluntschli, Royal Exchange Theatre
- A Streetcar Named DesireA Streetcar Named Desire (play)A Streetcar Named Desire is a 1947 play written by American playwright Tennessee Williams for which he received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1948. The play opened on Broadway on December 3, 1947, and closed on December 17, 1949, in the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. The Broadway production was...
(1984) - as Stanley Kowalski, Mermaid Theatre - The Merchant Of VeniceThe Merchant of VeniceThe Merchant of Venice is a tragic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. Though classified as a comedy in the First Folio and sharing certain aspects with Shakespeare's other romantic comedies, the play is perhaps most remembered for its dramatic...
(1984) - as Gratiano, Chichester Festival Theatre - CarringtonCarringtonCarrington and Carington are surnames originating in Normandy, France, from the town of Carentan, or from one of the Carringtons in England, including:-born in the United Kingdom:* Desmond Carrington Carrington and Carington are surnames originating in Normandy, France, from the town of Carentan,...
(1993) - as Mark Gertler, Chichester Festival Theatre - Dancing At Lughnasa (1990) - as Gerry Evans, Abbey Theatre, Dublin
- I.D. (2003) - as John Vorster, Almeida
- The Merchant Of VeniceThe Merchant of VeniceThe Merchant of Venice is a tragic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. Though classified as a comedy in the First Folio and sharing certain aspects with Shakespeare's other romantic comedies, the play is perhaps most remembered for its dramatic...
(2007) - as Shylock, Arcola
Selected Writing
- Sweet LIke Suga - (1981/2) Old Red Lion, Centaur Montreal, Theatre 2000 Ottawa, stage play
- The Song Of My father - (1992) BBC Radio 4 60 minute play
- The Crackwalker - (1993) BBC Radio 4 short story
- Where's The Bull? - (1993) LBC Winner London Radio Playwrights Festival
- Dreaming Up Laura - (1995) BBC Radio 4 90 minute play
- The Dead WaitThe Dead WaitThe Dead Wait is a play by Paul Herzberg which tells the tale of a young South African athlete, conscripted as a soldier in the Angolan Civil War, who tries to own up to a crime on arriving back home. Partly autobiographical, it draws on Herzberg's similar experiences prior to his leaving South...
- (2002) Royal Exchange Theatre, stage play - Almost HeavenAlmost HeavenAlmost Heaven is the tenth regular studio album by European-American pop group The Kelly Family. Based on concept by Dan Kelly, it was co-produced by Kathy and Paddy Kelly and released in 1996 throughout most of Europe....
- (2005) Feature Film (co-wrote)
External links
- Paul Herzberg at the Contemporary Africa Database
- The Dead Wait at the Royal Exchange Theatre