Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1938-1988 (Creation)
Level of description
Fonds
Extent and medium
5 boxes, 2 film reels
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Yvonne Silbert was born in Krugersdorp In 1926. Before she was twenty she wrote a musical play called 'Take It or Leave It!' The play was produced in Johannesburg by Norah Taylor in August 1948.
Yvonne Silbert travelled around the reef teaching Speech and Drama, and acted in amateur theatre productions in South Africa. A play she wrote about Crippen was presented on Springbok Radio.
In 1950 Yvonne Silbert married Rupert Abrahams, an attorney. Two weeks later she contracted poliomyelitis and was confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life. She regained the use of one hand but composed no more songs as she could no longer play the piano.
She continued to write plays and short stories. Most of her time was taken up with teaching speech and drama, and she produced a number of Shakespearean plays at Afrikaans high schools.
She died in 1975
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Plays, short stories, poetry, drawings, tapes, diaries, notebooks, music sheets, theatre programs and correspondence mainly with Robert Abrahams and Norah Taylor. also a biography of Yvonne Abrahams, incapacitated from poliomyelitis, in the form of a book and a play.
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Notes area
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Description control area
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Archivist's note
Compiled by Michelle Friedman