Lydia Lindeque

Rachel Alida du Toit was born on 15 January 1916 in Petrusburg in the Union of South Africa, into an Afrikaner family.[2] She attended school locally before leaving home to join Paul de Groot's acting company, starting touring at the age of seventeen. Initially, she performed in Afrikaans under the stage name Alida du Toit, but later adopted the name Lydia Lindeque. By 1936, she was a regular performer in Johannesburg, appearing alongside actors like Andre Huguenot.[3] In 1938, she acted in Uys Krige's first play, Magdalena Retief, the first in an increasingly productive collaboration between the two.[4] Her repertoire expanded, and so did her profile. In 1942, she starred in an Afrikanns translation of Ladies in Retirement alongside Berdine Grunwald.[5] The following year, she performed in William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, her first performance in English.[6]

In 1945, she travelled to Egypt to direct entertainment for the troops of the South African Army left in the country as their involvement in the Second World War ended. The first production, of Die Rooi Pruik, was performed on 3 August. She subsequently also directed performances in Allied-occupied Italy during the year.[7] At the end of this service, she returned to South Africa and, in 1952, she starred alongside Vivienne Drummond in the Greek political comedy Lysistrata.[8] She continued to work with new directors and, in 1958, she appeared alongside Leon Gluckman in Taubie Kushlick’s production of The Rope Dancers.[9]

Lindeque married the playwright Uys Krige in 1937.[10] They had two children, a daughter named Eulalia and a son called Taillefer, born in 1937 and 1944 respectively.[11] However, the family struggled with income.[12] They separated about the time of their younger child's birth and later married John Mantel.[13] She left South Africa and retired to Andorra in 1976 with Mantel and, on 16 July 1997, she died in their home there.[14]