South Africa: Lucky Bastard by Anthony Akerman and the making of an origin story

In 1987, Anthony Akerman had already been living in Amsterdam for 12 years and had taken Dutch citizenship. He decided to visit South Africa after his anti-war play “Somewhere on the Border” had been performed there, but was denied a visa.

So instead, he went to Italy to work on a new play. En route back to Amsterdam, he made a stopover near Zürich where his adoptive sister was living with her Swiss husband and two children. She received Fair Lady from South Africa every month and…