The Island Athol Fugard Analysis

Background:

Full name: Harold Athol Lanigan Fugard

Date of birth: 11 June, 1932

Place of birth: Middleburg, Cape Province, South Africa

He has an English mom and Afrikaner dad. He was brought up in Port Elizabeth, and English was his mother tongue.

Picture of Fugard’s parents

Athol Fugard as a child with his mother and sister

Athol Fugard as a child

Athol Fugard as an adult

Fugard attended the University of Cape Town but dropped out before the exams to hitchhike through Africa and became a deck hand on a ship and sailed the world. Fugard started working in the late 1950´s with a group of actors in Johannesburg. This group of actors included Zakes Mokae. They were influenced by Strasburg 's

Athol Fugard’s plays:

The Blood knot: Blood Knot portrays a society under the apartheid South African government and the bonds of two brothers.

Boesman and Lena: Boesman & Lena portrays how the apartheid society beat down a racially mixed couple.

The Island The Island is based on the experiences of a Black performer in South Africa who is sent to jail (Robben Island – the maximum-security prison).

Typical content of his plays:

Fugard typically writes about personal experiences, Apartheid (emotional, social issues) and the politics around it, post-Apartheid. By writing about Apartheid he is protesting about it (social protest). The politics however doesn’t ever affect his insight into people. Fugard like Tennessee Williams creates characters with strengths and weaknesses that make them incapable to fit into society (social outcasts). Fugard’s plays also often have dominant female characters. Fugard’s plays can be grouped in different categories but no category is complete and there is an overlap between categories, and there are plays that don’t really fit into any