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10 March 2020 | Story Rulanzen Martin | Photo Victor Sguassero (kykNET)
Chris Vorster
Chris was on stage in 'Die Hart Verklap' at the Toyota US Woordfees in Stellenbosch recently.

“Difficult and very strange,” is how Chris Vorster, veteran actor and Drama lecturer at the University of the Free State (UFS) describes his role as Bas Koorts in the supernatural thriller Die Spreeus

For Chris, the biggest challenge during the filming of Die Spreeus was to work in front of a green screen. “You never see the monsters and things attacking you, it is only added later on during the editing process,” he said. Therefore, he and his co-actors were expected to use their own imagination “to be frightened, and to duck and dive from something that does not exist.” 

This Afrikaans thriller series has recently been nominated in five categories of the South African Film and Television Awards, including Best Television Drama, Best Cinematography, and Original Sound and Sound Editing. 

Chris was also nominated for a Fiësta award in 2019 for his one-man performance in the theatre production, Die Hart verklap. “It is fantastic to still be recognised for my work,” he said, “but I also have to give recognition to Dion van Niekerk, because without a good director, any actor will be lost.” Van Niekerk also lectures Drama at the UFS.

Being a lecturer broadens his knowledge 

Chris joined the UFS Department of Drama and Theatre Arts in 2015 as lecturer in the programme for Film en Visual Media. “Everything I learn in the industry I apply as lecturer, and research and teaching feed more knowledge on acting, directing, and especially writing,” he said. After five years, being involved with the UFS Department of Drama is still exciting to him. “This is where both lecturers and students get encouraged to do more than just breathing.” 

With his busy schedule of teaching and acting, it remains important to him that South Africans are still able to tell stories – “in any language”. He considers it a privilege for anyone to work in their mother tongue. This is also why the symbiosis between his work as actor and lecturer is so appealing.

News Archive

International legal jurisprudent talks at the UFS
2009-09-01

 
The Department of Roman Law, History of Law and Comparative Law recently hosted Prof. Harry Rajak as part of the Iurisprudentia 100 celebrations of the Faculty of Law of the University of the Free State (UFS). Prof. Rajak, Emeritus Professor and Dean in the Faculty of Law at the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom, delivered a public lecture as visiting professor on the subject: A virile living system of law: An exploration of the South African legal system. Prof. Rajak delivered a very extensive lecture about the sources, nature, resilience and uniqueness of South African law. Amongst others, he convincingly pointed out that, for quite some time already, the common law of South Africa can no longer simply be equated to the Roman Dutch Law of the 17th and 18th century. South African law has been influenced by other law systems, amongst others, the English law, and developed by the judicature to such an extent that it is more correct to describe it as South African Common Law. Here are Prof. Rajak (left) and Prof. Johan Henning, Dean of the Faculty of Law at the UFS, in conversation.
Photo: Leonie Bolleurs

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