Athol Fugard facts for kids

Athol Fugard (born Harold Athol Lanigan Fugard; 11 June 1932 – 8 March 2025) was a famous South African writer. He was a playwright, novelist, actor, and director. Many people consider him South Africa's greatest playwright.

Fugard was well-known for his powerful plays. These plays often spoke out against apartheid. Apartheid was a system of unfair laws that separated people based on their race in South Africa. Some of his plays were even made into movies.

His novel Tsotsi was turned into a film. This movie won an Academy Award in 2005. It was directed by Gavin Hood.

In 1985, Time called him "the greatest active playwright in the English-speaking world." He wrote more than thirty plays during his career.

Fugard also taught at the University of California, San Diego. He was a professor of playwriting, acting, and directing.

He received many awards and honors. In 2005, he got the Order of Ikhamanga in Silver. This award was from the South African government. It was for his "excellent contribution and achievements in the theatre." He was also an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

In 2010, the Fugard Theatre opened in Cape Town. It was named in his honor. In 2011, he received a Tony Award for his lifetime achievements in theatre.

Early Life and Schooling

Athol Fugard was born on 11 June 1932. His full name was Harold Athol Lanigan Fugard. He was born in Middelburg, Cape Province, South Africa. This area is now called the Eastern Cape.

His mother, Marrie, ran a general store. Later, she managed a lodging house. His father, Harold Fugard, was a former jazz pianist. His father became unwell and could not work.

In 1935, his family moved to Port Elizabeth. He started primary school in 1938. He attended Marist Brothers College. Athol won a scholarship and went to a technical college for high school. He studied Philosophy and Social Anthropology at the University of Cape Town. However, he left the university in 1953. This was just before his final exams.

Starting His Career

After leaving university, Fugard traveled. He hitchhiked to North Africa with a friend. For the next two years, he worked on a steamer ship called the SS Graigaur. He traveled in East Asia during this time.

It was during these travels that he started writing. He wrote about these early experiences in his 1999 play. It was an autobiographical play called The Captain's Tiger: a memoir for the stage.

In September 1956, he married Sheila Meiring. She was a drama student at the University of Cape Town. They had met the year before. Sheila Fugard later became a novelist and poet. Their daughter, Lisa Fugard, is also a novelist.

His Theatre Work

Early Plays and Groups

In 1958, Fugard helped start a theatre group. It was a group for actors of different races. He wrote, directed, and acted in plays for this group. Some of these plays included No-Good Friday (1958) and Nongogo (1959). He performed in Nongogo with his colleague, Zakes Mokae.

In the early 1960s, Athol and Sheila Fugard returned to Port Elizabeth. They started another group called The Circle Players. This group was named after a play they produced. It was The Caucasian Chalk Circle by Bertolt Brecht.

In 1961, Fugard and Mokae acted together again. They starred in Fugard's play The Blood Knot in Johannesburg. This play was later revised and renamed Blood Knot in 1987. Many people consider The Blood Knot to be Fugard's first important play.

Standing Against Segregation

By 1962, Fugard faced a difficult choice. He wondered if he should work in theatres that separated audiences by race. British theatre groups also decided not to perform in South Africa. This was unless audiences were allowed to be multi-racial.

Fugard decided that he could not support segregation. He believed that art could help people understand life. But he felt that art alone could not change someone's beliefs. He thought that life experiences were what truly changed people.

There were very few places where plays could be shown to mixed audiences. Some of these places were not very good. But Fugard felt that human dignity was the most important thing. He believed that segregated theatres lacked this dignity.

Fugard supported the international boycott of South African theatres. This boycott was part of the Anti-Apartheid Movement. Because of this, he faced more restrictions. The government watched him closely. His plays were published and performed outside South Africa.

In 1964, his play The Blood Knot was produced in New York City. This helped start Fugard's career in America.

The Serpent Players

In the 1960s, Fugard formed a group called the Serpent Players. They got their name from their first practice space. It was a former snake pit at the Port Elizabeth Museum. This group was made up of Black actors. They worked as teachers, clerks, and factory workers. They developed and performed plays. They did this even though the Security Police watched them.

The group included actors like Winston Ntshona and John Kani. They met Athol Fugard in 1961. They asked him to help them with theatre skills. This is how the Serpent Players came together. They performed plays by famous writers. These included Bertolt Brecht, August Strindberg, and William Shakespeare.

Ntshona and Kani were once asked why they performed Sizwe Banzi Is Dead. This play was very political for its time. Ntshona replied that they were artists who loved theatre. He said they believed "art is life and conversely, life is art." They performed mainly at St Stephen's Hall. This hall is in New Brighton, an old Black township in Port Elizabeth.

The Serpent Players used ideas from Bertolt Brecht. They explored how theatre could show social issues. They also used humor from African vaudeville. Their work on plays like The Caucasian Chalk Circle led to The Coat in 1966. The Coat was based on a real event. It was about a woman whose husband was jailed for anti-apartheid activities. He left her only a coat and instructions.

The Serpent Players also created and co-wrote many plays. These were performed for different audiences around the world. Some of their most famous plays were:

• Sizwe Banzi Is Dead (1972)
• The Island (1972)

Fugard developed these plays with John Kani and Winston Ntshona. They worked together in workshops. The authorities thought the title The Island was too controversial. This was because it referred to Robben Island. That was the prison where Nelson Mandela was held. So, they used the alternative title The Hodoshe Span. Hodoshe means "carrion fly" in the Xhosa language.

These plays encouraged audiences to think about the characters' situations. They wanted people to analyze the problems shown on stage. For example, Sizwe Banzi Is Dead used humor and critique. It even made the audience ask questions during the play.

In 1967, the BBC filmed Blood Knot. Fugard acted in it, playing Morris. The South African government was not happy. They took away Fugard's passport.

Later Plays and Films

Yale Rep Premieres in the 1980s

The Fugard Theatre in District Six, Cape Town

"Master Harold"...and the Boys was written in 1982. It tells a fictional story. But it includes some of Fugard's own life experiences. The play is about a 17-year-old white South African boy. It also features two African men who work for his family. The play first opened in March 1982. It was performed at the Yale Repertory Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut.

The Road to Mecca was presented at the Yale Repertory Theatre in 1984. Fugard directed it himself. This play became one of his most praised works. It is about an elderly woman in a small South African town. She has spent 15 years creating an amazing artistic project.

Fugard also acted in his play A Place With the Pigs in 1987. He played a character who hid for many years. This play was seen as a metaphor for feeling isolated.

Plays After Apartheid

After apartheid ended, Fugard wrote Valley Song. It first played in Johannesburg in 1995. Fugard played two roles in this play. He played a white farmer and a coloured farmer. Both characters love the land. They also fear changes to their way of life.

In 2009, Fugard returned to New Haven for Coming Home. This play is about Veronika. She is the granddaughter of a farmer from Valley Song. She leaves her home to sing in Cape Town. But after her grandfather dies, she returns. She wants to build a new life on the land for her young son.

The Fugard Theatre opened in Cape Town in February 2010. Athol Fugard's new play, The Train Driver, played there in March 2010.

In 2014, Fugard acted on stage again. He performed in The Shadow of a Hummingbird. This play was shown at the Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven.

Film Work

Many of Fugard's plays have been made into films. He also acted in some of these movies. In 1973, he played Boesman in Boesman and Lena. Ross Devenish directed this film.

Fugard also directed a film in 1992. He co-directed the movie version of his play The Road to Mecca.

His novel Tsotsi was adapted into a film. This movie won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2006. Gavin Hood wrote and directed it.

Fugard also had small acting roles in other films. He played General Smuts in Gandhi (1982). He was also Doctor Sundesval in The Killing Fields (1984).

Personal Life

In 1958, the Fugards moved to Johannesburg. Athol worked as a clerk in a court that dealt with Black South Africans. There, he saw the unfairness of apartheid. He became good friends with people who fought against apartheid. This greatly influenced his writing. His plays often spoke out against the government. To avoid trouble, he had his plays published and performed outside South Africa.

For several years, Fugard lived in San Diego, California. He taught at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). He taught playwriting, acting, and directing. In 2000-2001, he also taught at Indiana University.

In 2012, Fugard moved back to South Africa.

In 2015, Athol and Sheila Fugard ended their marriage. They had been married for almost 60 years. In 2016, Fugard married Paula Fourie. She is a younger South African writer. Athol and Paula lived in the Cape Winelands region of South Africa. They had a daughter, Halle, and a son, Lanigan.

Athol Fugard passed away on 8 March 2025. He was 92 years old. He died in Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South Africa.

Plays

Here are some of Athol Fugard's plays, listed by when they were first performed or published:

Filmography

Films adapted from Fugard's plays and novel

• Boesman and Lena (1974), directed by Ross Devenish
• Marigolds in August (1980), directed by Ross Devenish
• "Master Harold"...and the Boys (1984), TV movie, directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg
• The Road to Mecca (1991), co-directed by Fugard and Peter Goldsmid
• Boesman and Lena (2000), directed by John Berry
• Tsotsi (2005), written and directed by Gavin Hood; won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
• "Master Harold"...and the Boys (2010), directed by Lonny Price

Film roles

• Boesman and Lena (1974) as Boesman
• The Guest at Steenkampskraal (1977) as Eugène Marais
• Meetings with Remarkable Men (1979) as Professor Skridlov
• Marigolds in August (1980) as Paulus Olifant
• Gandhi (1982) as General Jan Smuts
• The Killing Fields (1984) as Doctor Sundesval
• The Road to Mecca (1991) as Reverend Marius Byleveld

Selected Awards and Nominations

• Praemium Imperiale 2014

Theatre Awards

• Obie Award
  • 1971 – Best Foreign Play – Boesman and Lena (winner)
• Tony Award
  • 1975 – Best Play – Sizwe Banzi Is Dead / The Island – (nominated with John Kani and Winston Ntshona)
  • 2011 – Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre (winner)
• New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards
  • 1981 – Best Play – A Lesson From Aloes (winner)
  • 1988 – Best Foreign Play – The Road to Mecca (winner)
• Evening Standard Award
  • 1983 – Best Play – "Master Harold"...and the Boys (winner)
• Drama Desk Awards
  • 1982 – "Master Harold"...and the Boys (winner)
• Lucille Lortel Awards
  • 1992 – Outstanding Revival – Boesman and Lena (winner)
  • 1996 – Outstanding Body of Work (winner)
• The Audie Awards (Audio Publishers Association)
  • 1999 – Theatrical Productions – The Road to Mecca (winner)
• Outer Critics Circle Award
  • 2007 – Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play – Exits and Entrances (nomination)

Honorary Awards

• Writers Guild of America, East Award
  • 1986 – Evelyn F. Burkey Memorial Award – (with Lloyd Richards)
• National Orders Award (South Africa)
  • 2005 – The Order of Ikhamanga in Silver – "for his excellent contribution and achievements in the theatre"
• American Academy of Achievement's Golden Plate Award
  • 2014 – Golden Plate Award

Honorary Degrees (Special Recognition from Universities)

• Yale University, 1983
• Wittenberg University, 1992
• University of the Witwatersrand, 1993
• Brown University, 1995
• Princeton University, 1998
• University of Stellenbosch, 2006

Images for kids

• 

  The Fugard Theatre in District Six, Cape Town

See Also

In Spanish: Athol Fugard para niños

• South Africa under apartheid