Scene 9
from The Bram Fischer Waltz
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 March 2018
Summary
Lights come up red. We hear a woman's voice.BRAMis covered with a red communist flag, with yellow hammer and sickle.
FVO: Bram Fischer never danced out of the gates of Pretoria Local. By the time he left the prison, on 25 March 1975, he was 66 years old and dying of cancer. His last months in prison were a hell of pain, suffering, bureaucratic brutality, official indifference and the petty politics of the Minister of Justice, Jimmy Kruger, who refused to release him into the care of his daughters in Johannesburg.
Bram was taken to Bloemfontein. His brother Paul's home was declared a prison. Visitors, and even mail, were subject to prison regulations. Fischer was still a prisoner. Sometimes he would sit on the verandah with his daughter, his granddaughter and other family members. Mostly he was bedridden. On 8 May 1975, after two weeks in a coma. Bram Fischer passed away.
His funeral was small and attended only by his family and a few friends. The authorities confiscated his ashes immediately. More than a year later, without the knowledge of his family, his remains were strewn in an unknown place in Bloemfontein.
Darkness. We hear ‘Das Lied von der Moldau’ as the audience leaves the auditorium.
Alternative closing scene:
The bars are back between the audience and the actor.BRAMaddresses the audience.
BRAM: I never danced out of the gates of Pretoria Local. By the time I left the prison, on 25 March 1975, I was 65 years old and dying of cancer. My last months in prison were a hell of pain, suffering, bureaucratic brutality, official indifference and the petty politics of the Minister of Justice, Jimmy Kruger, who refused to release me into the care of Ilse and Ruth in Johannesburg. I was taken to Bloemfontein. My brother Paul's home was declared a prison. Visitors, and even mail, were subject to prison regulations. I was still a prisoner. Sometimes I would sit on the verandah with my daughters, my granddaughter and other family members. But most of the time I was bedridden. On 8 May 1975, after two weeks in a coma, I died.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Bram Fischer Waltz , pp. 48 - 49Publisher: Wits University PressPrint publication year: 2016