Blood Knot and Other Plays

by Athol Fugard

These three Port Elizabeth plays, which established South African playwright Athol Fugard's international reputation more than twenty years ago, examine with passion and grace close family relationships strained almost unendurably by the harshest of economic and political conditions. "A rare playwright, who could be a primary candidate for either the Nobel Prize in Literature or the Nobel Peace Prize."--Mel Gussow, The New Yorker

Genres: Plays, Africa, Drama, Theatre, 20th Century, South Africa, Classics

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Athol Fugard was a South African playwright, novelist, actor, and director widely regarded as South Africa's greatest playwright. Acclaimed in 1985 as "the greatest active playwright in the English-speaking world" by Time, he published more than thirty plays. He was best known for his political and penetrating plays opposing the system of apartheid, some of which have been adapted to film. His novel Tsotsi was adapted as a film of the same name, which won an Academy Award in 2005. It was directed by Gavin Hood.
Fugard also served as an adjunct professor of playwriting, acting and directing in the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of California, San Diego.
Fugard received many awards, honours, and honorary degrees, including the Order of Ikhamanga in Silver from the government of South Africa in 2005 "for his excellent contribution and achievements in the theatre". He was also an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Fugard was honoured in Cape Town with the opening in 2010 of the Fugard Theatre in District Six. He received a Tony Award for lifetime achievement in 2011.

Reviews

[Simon Levy · Rating 3 out of 5]

considered one of his best, but found it obvious and repetitive

[Phillip · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finished this book a couple of months ago, but I didn't want to write my review until I had watched the Danny Glover-Angela Bassett film version of Boesman and Lena. I wanted to see the play before I reviewed the book.
I think Fugard's "Master Harold". . .And the Boys is one of the best plays on the 20th century, and Sizwe Bansi is Dead is an excellent play as well. But these plays didn't strike me as quite as good. One thing that threw me off, especially with Boesman and Lena, was the codeswitching between English, Afrikaans, and little bits of Bantu; I had to continually flip to the glossary in the back to figure out what the characters were saying, which really slowed down my reading and made it harder to follow the plays.
Structurally these plays are all pretty distinct as well. To me, each one dragged at the beginning, starting off slowly and not really doing much to grab my attention. But then they built to larger and more philosophical concerns about personhood, place, (in)justice, interpersonal relationships, hardship, etc. So the endings of the plays were quite powerful, but again they started so slow.

[James F · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I saw a production of one of Fugard's plays some twenty years ago in Portland, this is the first time I've read any. The three plays in this book, Blood Knot, Hello and Goodbye, and Boesman and Lena, are among his earliest, the plays from the early sixties set in Port Elizabeth which established him as one of the major playwrights of our time. Blood Knot is a seven act play, the other two are two acts. They each have two roles, one of which was played by the author himself in the original South African productions; the third play has a third role, which essentially has only one word, "Lena".

These are powerful, emotional plays, which are the more effective in their condemnation of apartheid because they do not take the obvious road of showing whites directly oppressing blacks, but show the system by the consequences in the everyday lives of its victims.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

For those unfamiliar with life under apartheid, Fugard provides glimpses into the dark corners of human experience. Blood Knot, which features two brothers if different skin colors, delves into a dark fantasy of what passing for white might be like. Boesman and Lena takes a difficult look at how the establishment marginalized homeless blacks and how cruelty can echo into the night. While the glossary of Afrikaans and dialect is helpful, very little of the meaning isn't clear through context.

[Shiko · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wasn't quite sure what to make of the play. Perhaps watching it brings a lot more life & meaning into the dialogue. I thought it was ok - I can see how the relationship between the two brothers was (is?) representative of race relations in South Africa.

[Rachelle Urist · Rating 4 out of 5]

These old plays still pack a punch. Fugard's Apartheid era plays are exquisite. I'm re-reading his work now to remind myself that there was a good reason to study this playwright's life and work for so many years.

[Kristin B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Athol Fugard was first introduced to me when I took a South African literature class... the plays opened me to a new vision of apartheid and relationships exposed

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars, only read Blood Knot.

[Gourav]

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