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Purchase 1999.
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[Item], Fugard mss., Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.
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Circle Players, a theatre workshop, in Cape Town and the performance of his first play, Klaas and The Devil, which is unpublished, took place there also in 1956.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.
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:
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.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
Twelve letters from Mary Benson, political activist, author; biographer of Nelson Mandela
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,
Sent to Fugard, mostly regarding the production of
Includes Robin Midgley and Leslie James Seth-Smith, et al.
Seven letters to his mother or parents.
Four letters from Fugard's wife to him in New York after he was deported
from Zambia; one from her,
Two letters
Six letters from longtime friend and lead actor in many of Fugard’s plays.
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,
Includes notes, receipts, bills, sister’s wedding announcement, etc.
First production: Rehearsal Room of the African Music and Drama Association,
Dorkay House, Johannesburg,
Published: Cape Town: Simondium,
(see also: Journals,... 1973-1976)
First production: Rhodes University Theatre,
Published: Cape Town: Buren,
Published: New York: Theatre Communications Group,
[“Notes for The Captain’s Tiger made during the Australian tour of Valley Song.”]
First production: privately, Port Elizabeth,
Published: Cape Town: A.A. Balkema,
Published: New York: Theatre Communications Group,
Early, unpublished play
First public performance: Church Hill Theatre, Edinburgh,
Published in Dimetos and Two Early Plays. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
(see also:
Stage adaptation of Fugard’s
Production: Outer Space, Cape Town,
First production: Actors’ Theatre, Louisville, Kentucky,
Published: in
Premiered: on BBC-2 TV, as a 'Film International,'
Published: Johannesburg: Donker,
First production: Library Theatre, Johannesburg,
Published: Cape Town: Balkema, 1971; New York: Samuel French,
First production: The Space Theatre, Cape Town,
Published: in Statements: Three Plays. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
First production: Market Theatre, Johannesburg,
Published: Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press,
Premiered: at the Johannesburg Film Festival,
Published: Johannesburg: Donker,
(see also: Journals,...
First production: Yale Repertory Theatre,
Published: New York: Knopf,
(see also: Drivers)
First production: A play for television,
Published: in My Children! My Africa! and Selected Shorter Plays.
Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press,
First production: Market Theatre, Johannesburg,
Published: London: Faber and Faber,
Published:
First production: Trades Hall, Johannesburg,
Published in Dimetos and Two Early Plays. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
Published: in Contrast 8. Cape Town,
(see also: Oversize)
First production: Castlemarine Auditorium, Cape Town,
Published: Theatre One: New South African Drama. Johannesburg: Donker,
First production: Close Theatre, Glasgow,
Published: Cape Town: Buren,
First production: Yale Repertory Theatre,
Published: London: Faber and Faber,
First production: Cape Town, South Africa,
Published: London: Faber and Faber,
First production: Yale Repertory Theatre,
Published: London: Faber and Faber,
First production: The Space Theatre, Cape Town, 8 Oct. 1972
Published: in Statements: Three Plays. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1974
First performance: The Space Theatre, Cape Town,
Published: Statements: Three Plays. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
(novel)
Published: Johannesburg: Donker,
Productions: Market Theatre, Johannesburg, South Africa, and McCarter
Theater, Princeton, New Jersey,
Published:
all unpublished
[possibly "African Stages: South Africa is Likely to Offer Most Valuable Contribution to Theatre" New York Times, 20 September 1964]