Fugard mss., 1918-1997
Papers, 1918-1997, of Athol Fugard at the Lilly Library, Indiana University,
Bloomington, Indiana
Electronic finding aid encoded by Beth Benda.
Summary Information
Repository
Lilly
Library (Indiana University, Bloomington)
Indiana University
1200 E. Seventh St.
Bloomington, IN 47405-5500
Phone: 812-855-2452
Fax: 812-855-3143
Email: liblilly@indiana.edu
http://www.indiana.edu/~liblilly
Creator
Fugard, Athol.
TitleFugard mss.,1918-1997
Collection no:
LMC 2280
Extent
ca. 1200 items
Language
Materials are in English.
Abstract
Consists of journals, correspondence,
memorabilia, and drafts and manuscripts of writings of Athol Fugard, 1932-
Administrative Information
Access Restrictions
This collection is open for research.
Acquisition Information
Purchase 1999.
Usage RestrictionsPrior arrangements are not necessary before coming to the Library, however, patrons
from out of town are encouraged to communicate with the Library in advance of their
visits to ascertain availability of materials.
Photocopying permitted only with permission of the Curator of Manuscripts, Lilly
Library.
Preferred Citation
[Item], Fugard mss., Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.
Biographical Note
Athol Fugard was born June 11, 1932 in Middelburg, Cape Province, South Africa. He
began writing in 1950, at first short stories and a novel that he subsequently
destroyed, and then as a journalist. Fugard attended institutions in South Africa
that include Port Elizabeth Technical College from 1946-1950 and the University of
Cape Town from 1950-1953. He left the university in 1953, however, to join the crew
of a British tramp steamer from Sudan and completed a round-the-world voyage in 1954.
He wrote freelance articles in Port Elizabeth, South Africa for the Evening Post, and
was a reporter for the South African Broadcasting Corporation in Port Elizabeth and
Cape Town from 1955-1957. In 1956 he married South African actress Sheila Meiring and
developed an interest in writing plays. Together they founded the Circle Players, a
theatre workshop, in Cape Town and the performance of his first play, Klaas and The
Devil, which is unpublished, took place there also in 1956. Between 1958-1989 many of
his plays were performed by various theatrical organizations that he co-founded,
including New Africa Group, Serpent Players, Ijingle Company in London, and the Space
Experimental Theatre in Cape Town. His plays have been performed internationally from
Cape Town, South Africa, to London, New York, Los Angeles, and Brazil. Most have been
published and a few have been adapted for BBC Television and for film. His works
often illustrate the political and social dilemmas of living under the apartheid
system in South Africa. Theater took on new direction through Fugard as he directed,
acted, wrote, and composed plays with the actors who performed in them.
Scope and Content Note
Consists of journals, correspondence, memorabilia, and drafts and manuscripts of
writings of Athol Fugard, 1932-
Correspondents in the collection include: Lindsay Gordon Anderson, Geraldine Aron, Mary
Benson, Sidney Bernstein, John Berry, Anthony Charles Fleischer, Athol Fugard, Sheila
Fugard, Margie Goldsmith, Nadine Gordimer, Alan Bede Griffiths, Ben Kingsley, Leon
Major, Edris Makward, Robin Midgley, Yvonne Mitchell, Zakes Mokae, John Nassivera,
Maurice Podbrey, Irving Schneider, Paul Scofield, Leslie James Seth-Smith, Maria Tucci,
Dennis Walder, Gerald Clifford Weales, and Liza Williams.
The writings represented by notes, drafts, outlines, or occasionally final scripts are:
Blood Knot;
Boesman and Lena;
The Captain's Tiger;
The Coat;
Cousins, A Memoir;
Dialogue With a Madonna;
Dimetos;
Drivers;
The Drummer;
The Guest: An Episode in the Life of Eugene Nielen
Marais;
Hello and Goodbye;
The Island;
A Lesson From Aloes;
Marigolds in August;
Master Harold...and the Boys;
Mille Miglia;
My Children! My Africa!;
My Life;
Nongogo;
The Occupation;
Orestes;
People Are Living There;
A Place with the Pigs;
Playland;
The Road to Mecca;
Sizwe Banzi is Dead;
Statements After an Arrest Under the Immorality Act; Tsotsi
(a novel);
Valley Song; and short stories
"Father is a Thorn Tree,"
"Night-Call,"
"Pavane to a Dead Princess,"
and
"The Two Friends."
Arrangement/Organization
Organized into the following series: I. Correspondence and memorabilia (1918-1997); II.
Journals, diaries and notebooks (1960-1997); III. Writings, including notes, drafts, and
final scripts arranged alphabeticallly by title, as well as some unpublished short
stories, and an article written for the New York Times on theatre in Africa.
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Indexing Terms
-
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
IUCAT, the IU Libraries' online
catalog. Materials about related topics, persons or places can be found by searching the
catalog using these terms.
-
-
Names
-
Fugard, Athol--Diaries.
-
Fugard,
Athol--Correspondence.
-
Anderson, Lindsay, 1923-
-
Aron, Geraldine, 1941-
-
Benson, Mary.
-
Bernstein, Sidney, 1899-
-
Hofmeyer, Hans.
-
Fugard, Sheila.
-
Gordimer, Nadine.
-
Griffiths, Bede, 1906-
-
Kingsley, Ben.
-
Makward, Edris
-
Mitchell, Yvonne.
-
Mokae, Zakes.
-
Weales, Gerald Clifford, 1925-
-
Nassivera, John.
-
Scofield, Paul, 1922-
-
Tucci, Maria.
-
Walder, Dennis.
-
-
Topics
-
Plays.
-
Dramatists, South African--20th
century--Correspondence.
-
Television scripts.
-
Motion picture plays.
-
South Africa--Drama.
-
Theater
Series:
Correspondence and Memorabilia, 1918-1997
Box 1
Folder 1
Correspondence, 1953
1963-1965
Box 1
Folder 2
Correspondence, 1966-1979
Box 1
Folder 3
Correspondence, 1980-1997, and undated
Box 1
Folder 4
Benson, Mary. 1964-1966
Twelve letters from Mary Benson, political activist, author; biographer of
Nelson Mandela
Box 1
Folder 5
Berry, John, et al. 1963-1970.
Includes nine letters from the American director and collaborator John
Berry, Circle in the Square Theatre, and eleven letters from Margie
Goldsmith, close friend of Berry and the costume designer for Boesman and
Lena, all concerning the production of Fugard’s plays, 1960s. Also 12 pages
of typed notes for Boesman and Lena, May 9, 1970.
Box 1
Folder 6
[John Berry] News clippings, May-June
1970,
Sent to Fugard, mostly regarding the production of
Boesman and Lena, also about Fugard’s passport problems,
etc.
Box 1
Folder 7
British Broadcasting Corp./South African Broadcasting Corp., 1967-1976.
Includes Robin Midgley and Leslie James Seth-Smith, et al.
Box 1
Folder 8
Fugard, Athol. 1953-1954.
Seven letters to his mother or parents.
Box 1
Folder 9
Fugard, Sheila. 1963-1964.
Four letters from Fugard's wife to him in New York after he was deported
from Zambia; one from her, 1970, to Athol Fugard’s mother.
Box 1
Folder 10
Gordimer, Nadine. 1961,
1964.
Two letters
Box 1
Folder 11
Mokae, Zakes. 1962-1971.
Six letters from longtime friend and lead actor in many of Fugard’s
plays.
Box 1
Folder 12
Schneider, Irving. 1964-1965,
1967.
Twenty-four letters from Irving Schneider, the producer of People are Living
There, regarding the script and production. Also a five page letter from
Lindsay Anderson, June 23, 1965, enclosing six pages of "Notes on Specific Points
in the Script."
Box 1
Folder 13
“Letters from black actors in my Port Elizabeth theatre group who were
sentenced various periods of imprisonment on Robben Island.” 1965-1967
Box 1
Folder 14
Documents related to Council scholarship for Fugard, 1945
Box 1
Folder 15
Documents related to The Serpent Players, 1965
Box 1
Folder 16
Documents related to withdrawal of Athol Fugard’s passport, 1967-1968
Box 1
Folder 17
“Receipt from Security Police for material taken from my house after
Police Raid.” Oct.
24, 1971
Box 1
Folder 18
Personal and family related memorabilia, 1918-1970.
Includes notes, receipts, bills, sister’s wedding announcement, etc.
Box 1
Folder 19
Memorabilia, printed
Series:
Journals, Diaries, Notebooks, 1960-1997
Box 1
Folder 20-39
1960-1982
(17 volumes)
Box 2
Folder 1-27
1982-1997
(23 volumes)
Series:
Writings
Subseries:
The Blood Knot
First production: Rehearsal Room of the African Music and Drama Association,
Dorkay House, Johannesburg, Sept. 1961
Published: Cape Town: Simondium, 1963
Box 2
Folder 28
Notes,
5p.
Box 2
Folder 29
Typescript, heavily corrected,
101p.
Box 2
Folder 30
Correspondence and clippings re: Brazilian production,
19p.
Box 2
Folder 31
Review of the play – news clipping
Box 2
Folder 32
BBC rehearsal script,
102p.
Box 2
Folder 33
BBC camera script,
91p.
Subseries:
Boesman and Lena
(see also: Journals,... 1973-1976)
First production: Rhodes University Theatre, 10 July 1969
Published: Cape Town: Buren, 1969
Box 3
Folder 1
Typescript and holograph script,
62p.
Subseries:
The Captain's Tiger
Published: New York: Theatre Communications Group, 1999
Box 3
Folder 2
Notebook, holograph,
41p.
[“Notes for The Captain’s Tiger made during the Australian tour of Valley
Song.”]
Box 3
Folder 3
First draft script, holograph,
77p.
Box 3
Folder 4
Second draft, typescript with holograph insertions and corrections,
105p.
Box 3
Folder 5
Third and final draft, typescript,
103p.
Subseries:
The Coat: A theatre exercise from Serpent Players, New
Brighton
First production: privately, Port Elizabeth, Oct. 1967
Published: Cape Town: A.A. Balkema, 1971
Box 3
Folder 6
Typescript, heavily corrected,
26p.
Subseries:
Cousins, A Memoir
Published: New York: Theatre Communications Group, 1994
Box 3
Folder 7
Typescript, first draft, with numerous holograph changes and
insertions,
118p.
Subseries:
Dialogue With a Madonna
Early, unpublished play
Box 3
Folder 8
Typescript, heavily corrected and with holograph insertions and
additions,
82p.
Subseries:
Dimetos
First public performance: Church Hill Theatre, Edinburgh, 27 Aug. 1975
Published in Dimetos and Two Early Plays. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1977.
Box 3
Folder 9
Holograph notes in notebook and holograph insertions,
7p.; 6p.
Box 3
Folder 10
Script, with holograph insertions and changes,
[85]p.
Box 3
Folder 11
Printed theatre program - Nottingham Playhouse – starring Paul
Scofield
Oversize 1
[Dimetos].
Holograph, written in a 12x16½" "drawing book," 7p.
Subseries:
Drivers
(see also:
Mille Miglia)
Stage adaptation of Fugard’s
Mille Miglia, by
David Muir
Production: Outer Space, Cape Town, 18 July 1973
Box 3
Folder 12
Carbon typescript,
36p. [lacking p.32-35]
Subseries:
The Drummer
First production: Actors’ Theatre, Louisville, Kentucky, March 1980
Published: in
My Children! My Africa! and
Selected Shorter Plays. Johannesburg:
Witwatersrand University Press, 1990.
Box 3
Folder 13
Typescript,
[5]p.
Subseries:
The Guest: An Episode in the Life of Eugene Nielen
Marais
Premiered: on BBC-2 TV, as a 'Film International,' 5 March 1977
Published: Johannesburg: Donker, 1977
Box 3
Folder 14
Typescript with holograph corrections, revisions, and insertions,
[104]p.
Subseries:
Hello and Goodbye
First production: Library Theatre, Johannesburg, 29 Oct. 1965
Published: Cape Town: Balkema, 1971; New York: Samuel French, 1971
Box 3
Folder 15
Holograph [draft],
62p.
Box 3
Folder 16
Holograph, [later version],
62p.
Box 3
Folder 17
"Production copy," typescript with holograph corrections and
insertions,
52p.
Subseries:
[The Island]
First production: The Space Theatre, Cape Town, 2 July 1973
Published: in Statements: Three Plays. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1974
Box 3
Folder 18
Notes and drafts, holograph; typescript of Act Two.
43p.
Subseries:
A Lesson From Aloes
First production: Market Theatre, Johannesburg, 30 Nov. 1978
Published: Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 1981
Box 3
Folder 19
“Notes. 25/1/72” in bound volume,
26p.
Box 3
Folder 20
...“First draft of Aloes at the Market Theatre Jhb. November 1978
(typed pages). Pencilled corrections and additions – rewriting in March-May
of 1979,”
[100]p.
Box 3
Folder 21
“(Market script) from their archives.” Photocopy of typescript,
63p.
Box 3
Folder 22
“Final and Definitive version of the text as staged at the National
Theatre (London) in July 1980.” Typescript with holograph changes and
insertions,
[76]p.
Box 3
Folder 23
Miscellaneous relating to Aloes, Dec. 1978-Jan.
1979,
2 letters, two poems and one news clipping [review]
Subseries:
Marigolds in August
Premiered: at the Johannesburg Film Festival, 21 Apr. 1980
Published: Johannesburg: Donker, 1982
Box 3
Folder 24
“Synopsis” Typescript with holograph corrections,
10p.
Box 3
Folder 25
A Synopsis of a Proposed New Devenish - Fugard Film for Television.”
Photocopy of holograph, 10p. and typescript, 6p.
Box 3
Folder 26
...“Screenplay....” Typescript with paste-ins and holograph changes,
[60]p.
Box 3
Folder 27
Mimeo script with numerous typed and holograph insertions and
changes,
[113]p.
Box 3
Folder 28
Mimeograph script, [iii],
39p.
Box 3
Folder 29
“Post production dialogue script,” mimeograph,
[38]p.
Subseries:
Master Harold...and the Boys
(see also: Journals,... 1979, Feb.)
First production: Yale Repertory Theatre, 12 March 1982
Published: New York: Knopf, 1982
Box 3
Folder 30
Notebook: “Master Harold New Haven” Holograph,
15p. (photograph [of cast?] laid-in)
Box 3
Folder 31
“... for Sam” Holograph draft,
46p.
Box 3
Folder 32
“...a personal memoir for Sam” Holograph [later draft],
56p.
Box 3
Folder 33
“...For Sam and H.D.F.” Typescript with holograph corrections and
changes,
58p.
Box 3
Folder 34
Master Harold...and the Boys. New York: Knopf, 1982.
Marked galleys
Subseries:
Mille Miglia
(see also: Drivers)
First production: A play for television, 5 Aug. 1968
Published: in My Children! My Africa! and Selected Shorter Plays.
Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press, 1990
Box 4
Folder 1
Notes, holograph, in “examination book,”
[7]p.
Box 4
Folder 2
Incomplete draft of script, typescript with holograph insertions and
corrections,
[39]p.
Box 4
Folder 3
Carbon typescript, with scene number changes,
[47]p.
Box 4
Folder 4
Holograph insertions for typescript,
[23]p.
Box 4
Folder 5
Retyped pages and scenes,
[32]p.
Box 4
Folder 6
Holograph script,
62p.
Box 4
Folder 7
“Theatre 625” “Mille Miglia” Photocopy of television script in
recording order,
89p.
Subseries:
My Children! My Africa!
First production: Market Theatre, Johannesburg, 27 June 1989
Published: London: Faber and Faber, 1990
Box 4
Folder 8
Typescript with holograph insertions and changes,
88 [i.e.100]p.
Subseries:
My Life
Published:
My Life; and Valley Song.
Johannesburg: Hodder & Stoughton and Witwatersrand University Press,
1996
Box 4
Folder 9
Notes by Rebecca Waddell re: development of My Life, Typescript
(fax),
9p.
Box 4
Folder 10
Typescript,
30p.
Subseries:
Nongogo
First production: Trades Hall, Johannesburg, 8 June 1959
Published in Dimetos and Two Early Plays. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1977
Box 4
Folder 11
“First typed [carbon] copy...--Johannesburg, 1959.”
62p.
Subseries:
The Occupation
Published: in Contrast 8. Cape Town, Apr. 1964
Box 4
Folder 12
...“A script for the camera.”
Typescript with holograph corrections and insertions, 36p.,
accompanied by letter from editor of Contrast to Fugard, 3-3-64,
2p.
Subseries:
Orestes
(see also: Oversize)
First production: Castlemarine Auditorium, Cape Town, 21 March 1971
Published: Theatre One: New South African Drama. Johannesburg: Donker, 1973
Box 4
Folder 13
Script: “Text” Holograph,
[10]p.
Box 4
Folder 14
Script, holograph (pencil),
[19]p.
Box 4
Folder 15
Letter from Fugard to Bruce Davidson. Typed (carbon),
10p.
Box 4
Folder 16
"Orestes An experiment in theatre as described in a letter to Bruce
Davidson, the American photographer,"
Typed carbon with holograph corrections, 12p., and typescript with
title change: "Orestes An experiment in theatre as described in a letter to
an American friend," June 1973, 1p.
Oversize 2
Orestes.
Holograph, written in three 12x16½" drawing pads, with insertions,
ca. 50p., including some inserts. Written on drawing pad covers: 1. "Dec.
1970 - Feb. 71"; 2. "Cape Town final"; 3. "[JHB]"
Subseries:
People are Living There
First production: Close Theatre, Glasgow, 13 March 1968
Published: Cape Town: Buren, 1969.
Box 4
Folder 17
Holograph notes, in “Reporter’s Spiral Note Book”
[16]p.
Box 4
Folder 18
Typescript with holograph insertions and corrections,
[114]p.
Subseries:
A Place with the Pigs
First production: Yale Repertory Theatre, 24 March 1987
Published: London: Faber and Faber, 1988
Box 4
Folder 19
First draft, holograph,
[35]p.
Box 4
Folder 20
Second draft, holograph,
63p.
Box 4
Folder 21
Third draft, typescript with holograph insertions and corrections,
[64]p.
Subseries:
Playland
First production: Cape Town, South Africa, 1992
Published: London: Faber and Faber, 1992
Box 4
Folder 22
First Outline, holograph, [42]p.
Box 4
Folder 23
First draft, holograph, [55]p. Accompanied by T.L.S. (fax), Kenny
Leon to AF, May 14, 1992. 1p.
Box 4
Folder 24
Second draft, typescript (word processed) and holograph,
[51]p.
Box 4
Folder 25
Third draft, typescript (word processed) with holograph insertions
and corrections, [59]p.
Box 4
Folder 26
Final draft, typescript (word processed), with holograph corrections
and changes, [63]p.
Subseries:
The Road to Mecca
First production: Yale Repertory Theatre, 1 May 1984
Published: London: Faber and Faber, 1985
Box 4
Folder 27
Typescript (photocopy) of Yale Repertory Theatre/Yale School of
Drama script, [ii]
123p.
Subseries:
Sizwe Banzi is Dead
First production: The Space Theatre, Cape Town, 8 Oct. 1972
Published: in Statements: Three Plays. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1974
Box 4
Folder 28
Notes and draft script, holograph and typescript
[66]p.
Subseries:
Statements After an Arrest Under the Immorality
Act
First performance: The Space Theatre, Cape Town, 28 March 1972
Published: Statements: Three Plays. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1974
Box 4
Folder 29
Typescript, draft with holograph insertions and changes,
[62]p.
Box 4
Folder 30
"...script for the 1st London production...."
Typescript (photocopy), [56]p.
Box 4
Folder 31
"Rehearsal log for the London Premier...."
Holograph, [44]p.
Subseries:
Tsotsi
(novel)
Published: Johannesburg: Donker, 1980
Box 4
Folder 32
“earlier draft....” [incomplete],
holograph, [76]p.
Box 4
Folder 33
Notes and later draft,
holograph, [155]p.
Subseries:
Valley Song
Productions: Market Theatre, Johannesburg, South Africa, and McCarter
Theater, Princeton, New Jersey, 1995
Published:
My Life; and Valley Song.
Johannesburg: Hodder & Stoughton and Witwatersrand University Press,
1996
Box 4
Folder 34
First version, 1st draft,
holograph, [84]p.
Box 4
Folder 35
First version, Act One, 2nd draft,
typescript with holograph insertions and changes, [57]p.
Box 4
Folder 36
First version, Act Two, 2nd draft,
typescript with holgraph corrections, [44]p.
Box 4
Folder 37
Second version, 1st draft,
typescript/holograph, [71]p.
Box 4
Folder 38
Second version, 2nd draft,
typescript with holograph insertions and changes, [70]p.
Box 4
Folder 39
Second version, 3rd draft,
typescript with holograph changes and insertions, [76]p.
Box 4
Folder 40
Second version, 4th and final draft,
typescript (word processed), with holograph corrections,
[76]p.
Subseries:
Miscellaneous
Box 4
Folder 41
Notes for plays[?]: "The Silkworms;" "The Fordsburg Native Comm.
Court"; etc.
Holograph and typescript, [20]p.
Short stories and writing fragments, ca. early 1960s
all unpublished
Box 4
Folder 42
Father is a Thorn Tree.
Four holograph drafts: 10p., 2p., 2p., 2p.
Box 4
Folder 43
Night-Call.
Two typescript drafts: 25p. and 21p.
Box 4
Folder 44
Pavane to a Dead Princess.
Typescript (title in pencil), 16p.
Box 4
Folder 45
The Roots of Matter.
Holograph draft, 2p.; [storyline], holograph, 1p.
Box 4
Folder 46
The Two Friends.
Typescript (title in pencil), 9p.; holograph notes, 1p.
Box 4
Folder 47
"He died at [t]wo o'clock in the morning, or at least...." [1st
line].
Typescript fragments, [7p.]
New York Times article by Fugard
Box 4
Folder 48
Typescript with holograph changes and corrections,
6p.
[possibly "African Stages: South Africa is Likely to Offer Most Valuable
Contribution to Theatre" New York Times, 20 September 1964]
Lecture by Fugard: "Some Problems of a Playwright from South Africa."
Delivered at NYU, Oct. 16, 1990.
Box 4
Folder 49
Draft transcript of speech, T.D., 12p.; Edited transcript, T.D.,
10p.
[Review of a play by George Pemba. Reviewer unknown, undated].
Box 4
Folder 50
Carbon typescript,
4p.
