Athol Fugard: An Interview with the Playwright
Athol Fugard was born in 1932 in Middleburg, South Africa. Between 1959 and 1979 Mr. Fugard wrote and co-wrote plays that include No-Good Friday, Nongogo, The Blood Knot(produced at Pittsburgh Public Theater in 1978), People are Living There, Hello and Goodbye, Boesman and Lena, Sizwe Bansi is Dead (produced at Pittsburgh Public Theater in 1976), The Island, Statements After an Arrest Under the Immortality Act, Dimetos and A Lesson From Aloes. Mr. Fugard has appeared in the films Marigolds in August and The Guest (for which he also wrote the screenplays), Gandhi, Boesman and Lena, and, most recently, The Killing Fields.
In March 1982, the world premier of "MASTER HAROLD" and the boys opened under Mr. Fugard's direction at the Yale Repertory Theater. The play moved in May to Broadway, where it received the Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics' Circle Award for Best Play and was nominated for Tony Awards for Best Play and Best Director. Although "MASTER HAROLD" and the boys was banned from production in South Africa in December 1982, the ban was lifted the fol lowing year.
A revival of The Blood Knot, directed by and starring Mr. Fugard, opened in September at the Yale Repertory Theater and is currently running on Broadway. Before a recent performance, I spoke to Mr. Fugard about his views on the current situation in South Africa.
If you were writing "MASTER HAROLD" today, would Sam's character be as hopeful about the future of whites and blacks in South Africa?
Well, in terms of writing "MASTER HAROLD," whether it was the writing of it as actually happened in the past or whether I wrote it today, I would feel a certain obligation to portray the character of Sam as I really knew him. Sam is not a fictional character. He's not acreation of my imagination. He's a man I actually knew and he's a man who had faith. Faith in people, in human nature. An ultimate faith in human nature and, therefore, an ultimate faith in the future. And however tragically misplaced that faith might be, if I were to write Sam now, I wou Id actually have to sti II reflect him as that sort of man
Do you still feel as positive as you once felt about the chances for a proc• ess of peaceful change in the system of apartheid?
No, I must say that the past six months have been a very - very, very bitter and a very dark experience for me personally. I've hung on for as long as I could to the hope that the white regime in South Africa, that the Afrikaner in particular would wake up in time and realize what we all know he's got to realize. I think I've reached a point now where I realize that that is not going to happen. I've got to ac-
Athol Fugard as Jan Christiaan Smuts in the awardwinn i ng film, Gandhi.
cept the fact that the Afrikaner Nationalist government is not prepared to share power and without having the preparedness to share power, I think the possibility of peaceful change in South Africa is non-existent.
So often you've been quoted or articles have said about you that you love South Africa very deeply and you go there to refuel your creativity. What does this new view of the system there mean to you as a writer?
Well, it doesn't change my feelings about South Africa. I've called South Africa home in the past. I still call it that. I think I will always call it that. Nothing that happens there can actually change my relationship to my country, the fact that I love it and that I love its people. I can only say in support of that that as soon as my stint with The Blood Knot on Broadway is finished - I don't know how long that's going to be yet, because the reviews have just come out and we're still trying to assess what our future is; I know I've committed myself for a maximum of six months - at the end of that, I go back home. I go back to South Africa. Do you have any projects planned that will deal with what's happening there now?
No, no. You know one doesn't just write out of a response to an external. The event of actually writing a play is a combination of a lot of things which have got to coincide, in my case, before a play gets written And the fact that there is an external situation that concerns and worries and traumatizes me is no guarantee that I will respond to that by way of writing something. There have got to be internal factors. There has got to be a coi nci-
dence between an external reality and an internal reality and I'm not quite sure at the moment what my internal reality might be. I might, in fact, find myself at this point writing an il'}tensely personal play again. Not necessarily one that takes on the crude political realities of the present situation in South Africa. If there were any piece of information that you think people in Pittsburgh should know about what is happening in South Africa that they don't seem to know because of media coverage, what would it be?
The extent to which, in South Africa, white needs black and black needs white. That it is going to be reduced very simply to a situation of oppressor and that people are going to see the situation simply in terms of oppressor and oppressed. They have radically oversimplified the situation. At one level that is, of course, a truth It is only a part of the truth ; it's not the whole truth. This question ofmutLial dependence and need is a major factor in terms of South Africa and that is what makes the situation so tragic. That is what makes South Africa as a country and its present history and its predictable, forseeable future so tragic - because we had a chance.
Mary G. Guaraldi
The Critics And "MASTER HA ROLD"
"In contrast to other recent plays by the author, "MASTER HAROLD" is, for all its seriousness of purpose, something of a celebration. It is suffused with warmth and flavored with engaging comedy, a lightness of spirit that we have not seen in the author's work since THE BLOOD KNOT "
-Mel Gussow, N.Y. TIMES
"There may be two or three living playwrights in the world who can write as well as Athol Fugard, but I'm not sure that any of them has written a recent play that can match "MASTER HAROLD" and the boys. Mr. Fugard's dram a - lyrical in design, shattering in impact - is likely to be an enduring part of the theater long after most of this Broadway season has turned to dust."
-Frank Rich, N.Y. TIMES
"MASTER HAROLD" and the boys sends you out into the world's cold air, shattered but uplifted, even cleansed."
-Clive Barnes, N.Y. POST
And ifs beautiful because that is what we want life to be like. But instead, like you said, Hally, we're bumping into each other all the time. Look at the three of us this afternoon . None of us knows the steps and there's no music playing. And it doesn't stop with us. The whole world is doing it all the time. Open a newspaper and what do you read? America has bumped into Russia, England is bumping into India, richman bumps into poorman. Those are big collisions, Hally. They make for a lot of bruises. People get hurt in all that bumping, and we're sick and tired of it now. It's been going on for too long. Are we never going to get.it right? learn to dance life like champions instead of always being just a bunch of beginners at it?
"MASTER HAROLD" and the boys Athol Fugard
Because there is no intermission during "MASTER HAROLD" and the boys, those patrons who arrive after the start of the performance will be unable to sit in their assigned seats. Latecomers will be seated at specific intervals determined in advance by the director and only in easily accessible sitting and standing areas on the upper level. Please plan to arrive on time in order to insure your enjoyment of the show.
Man arrested for passbook violation
1652 Dutch East India Company founds station on Cape of Good Hope to provision trade route. Farming communities established on the peninsula, driving indigenous hunters to less arable land.
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1657 Employees freed from service contracts to Dutch East India Company settle in incipient Cape Town; develop unique branch of Dutch, known as Afrikaners. By 1800 most Afrikaners are "boers;• meaning farmers, controlling large sectors of arable land. •
1806 Great Britain captures Cape Colony. •
1807 Britain abolishes slave trade on Cape peninsula.
1820 Wave of immigration to Cape peninsula, followed by second wave in 1902, as British governmentgrants land and free passage to English settlers of Cape Colony.
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1827 English system of government replaces Dutch; Charter of Justice creates Supreme Court of judges with security of tenure.
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1834 Britain emancipates slaves in Cape Province. White supremacy, however, survives.
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1850 Afrikaners establish Boer republics independent of British rule in the Orange Free State and the Transvaal. Pass laws in the Transvaal prohibit blacks from free movement in so-called "white" areas without a signed pass. Africans also barred from owning land outside of reserves established for their in· habitation.
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1857 In Dred Scott case, Supreme Court upholds lower court decision that a slave is not a citizen and cannot sue in court, further ruling that slavery cannot be excluded from U.S. territories.
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1862 Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation issued September 22 by President Abraham Lincoln
declares ,persons held as slaves within areas in rebellion against the United States will be free as of January 1, 1863.
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1867 Alluvial diamonds discovered north of Cape Colony, leading to discovery of richest known diamond-mine in history.
1886 Gold reef discovered at Wit· watersrand. Johannesburg be-· comes center of gold-mining in• dustry. Mining structures South African industrial society with wage, benefit and occupational in• equities between white and black workers. Population of Johannes• burg jumps to ½ million in 1921, reaching 1½ million by 1948.
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1899 British attempts to annex resource-rich Boer republics prompt Boers to declare war on Great Britain.
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1902 Boers surrender, but terms provide for their early self• government.
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1910 Boer republics join with Cape Province and Natal to form Union of South Africa. Constitution codifies color bar.
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1912 African National Congress (ANC) founded as non-violent organization. Will turn to armed struggle in 1960's as racial tensions increase.
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1913 Land laws delimit reserves where Africans must reside. With new laws in 1936, these boundaries form basis of present homelands. Pass laws are retained by Union from predecessor regimes, as are master and servant laws by which breach of employment contract is criminal offense.
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1914· World War I; South Africa enters
1917 with Great Britain.
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1919 Riots in more than twenty South African cities bring injury and death to hundreds and destroy many tenements in black-inhabited slum areas. Distinction be• tween "whites," "blacks" and ''coloureds" codified.
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1920 League of Nations grants South Africa control of Namibia, a former German colony conquered by South African forces during World War I.
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1932 Athol Fugard born June 11 in village of Middleburg, Cape Province.
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1933· South Africa establishes self• 1934 rule independent of Britain.
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1936 Black voters removed from common roll in Cape Province, given only white representation in lower house and Senate.
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1937 N alive Laws Amendment Act restricts blacks from entering towns and compels municipalities to segregate black from white resi• dents.
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1939 Beginning of World War II which ends in 1945 following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
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1948 May 29, the new National party, opponent of the more moderate in• cumbent Nationalists, wins work• ing majority in Parliament despite winning only minority of popular vote. The new Nationalists begin to implement "Apartheid," meaning "apartness." Sanctioned by a Dutch Calvinist creed of racial
separation, they will outlaw interracial marriage (1949: Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act) and interrac i aI sexual relations (1950 and 1957: Immortality Act); abolish the Natives' Representative Council and the already minute and indirect African representation to the House of Assembly and enforce pass laws and African reserve residency.
U.N. General Assembly begins passing resolutions condemning South Africa's racial policies.
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1955
3000 black delegates attend "Congress of the People" and adopt Freedom Chaner.
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1958 Attorney General William P. Rogers issues decision to integrate southern U.S. schools.
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1959 Black representatives removed from both houses of Parliament. ANC splits; Pan-African Congress (PAC) formed with younger membership.
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1960 In March, 69 rioters at Sharpeville killed by police.
State of emergency declared throughout South Africa.
Fugard leaves England for South Africa on hearing of the massacre.
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1961 South Africa becomes a Republic and leaves the Commonwealth of Nations. ANC and PAC banned.
The Blood Knot premier in Johannesburg with Athol Fugard and Zakes Mokae is the first time in South African history a black and a white actor have appeared together on stage before a racially mixed audience.
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1962 Nelson Mandela, leader of the ANC, sentenced to life in prison by a white court on charges of sabotage.
Fugard writes open letter that commences boycott by British playwrights against their works' production in segregated South African theaters.
U.N. General Assembly calls on member states to apply economic sanctions against South Africa and to end diplomatic relations.
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1964
South African government attempts to imprison or execute all known revolutionary leaders. •
1966
Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd assassinated on September 6. Succeeded by Nationalist B.J. Vorster.
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1967 Fugard's passport revoked by South African government in June for "reasons of state safety and security."
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1968 In response to petition signed by 4,000 of his supporters, Fugard's passport is restored by South African government.
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1976 In June, black schoolchildren in Soweto riot to protest the poor and limited education they are receiving. Riots spread to other black townships and ultimately 176 rioters are killed.
Independence granted to the Transkei, entrenching the homelands system. Restriction of African citizenship to homelands, now Independent polities, ensures there will be no African citizens of Republic of South Africa. Blacks in South African towns are to be con· sidered visiting workers, ineligible for political, economic, civil or social rights or representation in South African government.
1978 Prime Minister Vorster resigns from office, succeeded by Pieter Botha.
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1982 "MASTER HAROLD". and the boys world premier, March 12. The first of Fugard's plays in 24 years to open outside of South Africa, it is produced at Vale Repertory Theater in part to avoid censorship; moves in May to Broadway. South African government in December bans production of "MASTER HAROLD!'
Pittsburghers Against Apartheid organized in March to protest opening of Honorary South African consulate.
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1984 Revision of South African constitution divides parliament with separate houses for whites, ·coloureds and Asians. Violence erupts in several black townships. 29 killed in September riots protesting rent increases in Sharpeville and Johannesburg.
Desmond Tutu, Anglican Bishop of Johannesburg and human rights advocate, awarded Nobel Peace Prize for work against apartheid.
In the spring, Gui-Leite Ferraz, Honorary Consul of South Africa, is fired after criticizing Pittsburghers' protests of his efforts to form a consulate in Pittsburgh. Pittsburghers Against Apartheid begin 10 months of demonstrations at Pittsburgh Gold and Silver Exchange to protest importation and sale of South African krugerrands.
In December, after less than an hour of demonstration, Kaufmann's discontinues sale of krugerrands; Gimbels and David Weis follow suit.
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1985 In March, 20 are killed by police during protest commemorating Sharpeville massacre of 1960. Blacks and non-whites clash with police in Cape Town; fighting claims 31 lives. Fifty are killed in Durban riots between Indians and blacks.
Martial law imposed in July on 36 urban districts: Rioting moves to areas not included in the state of emergency. Fighting in Cape Town.
In August, South African mine workers call for a strike against gold, diamond and coal mines, demanding pay increases and lift• ing of state of emergency around Johannesburg.
Vale Repertory Theater hosts premier of A Road to Mecca by Fugard. Fugard directs and stars in revival of The Blood Knot with Tony Award-winner Zakes Mokae at Vale Repertory Theater; moves in November to Broadway.
In September, President Reagan invokes sanctions against Pretoria, including ban on loans to South Africa and halt on import of krugerrands.
