Miss
THE ROAD TO MECCA by Athol Fugard
Dramaturgical Notes composed by Judy Braha, Thomas Martin, and Todd Siff
SETTING
Time: Summer, 1976 rekindling Autumn, 1974
Place: Nieu Bethesda, South Africa
MISS HELEN
Helen Elizabeth Martins ('Miss Helen') is considered South Africa's foremost Outsider Artist.
Born in December of 1897 in Nieu Bethesda, Miss Helen was the youngest of six children. In
1919, she moved to the Transvaal to work as a teacher. After her brief marriage to Willem
Johannes Pienaar dissolved, Miss Helen returned to New Bethesda in 1928 to care for her ailing parents. After her mother’s death in 1941 and her father’s death in 1945, Miss Helen became increasingly reclusive and isolated from the local community. It is at this time that she began her life as an artist. It is said that she lay in bed one night, considering how dull and grey her life had become, when she resolved, there and then, that she would strive to bring light and color into her life. There was no overall plan, but what began as decoration soon developed into a fascination with the interplay of reflection and space, of light, dark, and different colors. When the interior of the house was virtually completed Miss Helen applied her imagination to the world beyond her door, transforming her garden into what became known as the Camel Yard. She was particularly inspired by biblical texts, the poetry of Omar Khayyam, and the works of William
Blake. With the help of various assistants she continued to create her “Mecca” until 1976, when she decided, in part due to her failing eyesight and arthritic hands, to end her own life.
Miss Helen’s Owl House and surrounding Camel Yard contain over 300 concrete and glass sculptures. In the Owl House, Miss Helen created sun-faces, owls, and other images, which were set against a luminous backdrop of walls and ceilings coated with elaborate patterns of crushed glass embedded in bands of brightly colored paint. The Camel Yard is
Dramaturgical Notes composed by Judy Braha, Thomas Martin, and Todd Siff
SETTING
Time: Summer, 1976 rekindling Autumn, 1974
Place: Nieu Bethesda, South Africa
MISS HELEN
Helen Elizabeth Martins ('Miss Helen') is considered South Africa's foremost Outsider Artist.
Born in December of 1897 in Nieu Bethesda, Miss Helen was the youngest of six children. In
1919, she moved to the Transvaal to work as a teacher. After her brief marriage to Willem
Johannes Pienaar dissolved, Miss Helen returned to New Bethesda in 1928 to care for her ailing parents. After her mother’s death in 1941 and her father’s death in 1945, Miss Helen became increasingly reclusive and isolated from the local community. It is at this time that she began her life as an artist. It is said that she lay in bed one night, considering how dull and grey her life had become, when she resolved, there and then, that she would strive to bring light and color into her life. There was no overall plan, but what began as decoration soon developed into a fascination with the interplay of reflection and space, of light, dark, and different colors. When the interior of the house was virtually completed Miss Helen applied her imagination to the world beyond her door, transforming her garden into what became known as the Camel Yard. She was particularly inspired by biblical texts, the poetry of Omar Khayyam, and the works of William
Blake. With the help of various assistants she continued to create her “Mecca” until 1976, when she decided, in part due to her failing eyesight and arthritic hands, to end her own life.
Miss Helen’s Owl House and surrounding Camel Yard contain over 300 concrete and glass sculptures. In the Owl House, Miss Helen created sun-faces, owls, and other images, which were set against a luminous backdrop of walls and ceilings coated with elaborate patterns of crushed glass embedded in bands of brightly colored paint. The Camel Yard is