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sheltered within their scrap-heap possessions and awaiting the next official eviction is now as common in New York City, among other places, as it was in the South Africa where he set and wrote his play in the late 1960s. Even at the time of its premiere, 'Boesman and Lena' was recognized as a universal work that might speak to audiences long after apartheid had collapsed. But who would have imagined that the universality would soon prove so uncomfortably literal?"
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Fugard focused on non-white characters and explored social issues, protesting apartheid. He said that the play was inspired by an incident in 1965 when Fugard was driving along a rural road in South Africa. He noticed an old woman walking along the road in the boiling hot sun, miles from anywhere,
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wrote in the same newspaper: "Whether or not you get to the
Manhattan Theater Club's revival of 'Boesman and Lena,' you can always see another, informal version of its drama day or night on a Manhattan sidewalk or subway platform or vacant lot. Athol Fugard's image of an itinerant homeless couple
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and offered her a lift. She was overcome and cried with gratitude. She told him that her husband had just died and she was walking to another farm. If Fugard had not stopped, she would have spent the night on the side of the road. (It was a common practice in
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concluded: "This is an important play, no less so since conditions in South Africa have somewhat improved: The misery may now be as much existential as social. Outside oppressors add to it, but we carry oppression within us."
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South Africa for farmers to evict worker's families when the worker died.) What struck Fugard was that the woman was in pain and suffering but was far from defeated. This inspired him to write the play.
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Two film adaptations of Fugard's play were made, both released with its title. The first was made in South Africa and released in 1973. It was directed by
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It was adapted as an
American film of the same name, released in 2000 and starring
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at Circle in the Square
Downtown, Lortel Archives, Internet Off-Broadway Database.
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Three Port
Elizabeth Plays: The Blood Knot: Hello and Goodbye: Boesman and Lena
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Blood Knot and Other Plays including
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Running for 205 performances until 24 January 1971, the production won
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John Simon, "Benoit & Marcelle & Henri & Angelique" in
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as one of Fugard's "masterpieces", along with his plays
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588:IMDb film entry for the 2000 version
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500:Eder, Richard (4 December 1978).
414:"Boesman and Lena / Introduction"
298:An American film was directed by
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335:Boesman and Lena and Other Plays
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119:on a few individuals.
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683:A Lesson from Aloes
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95:playwright
976:1969 plays
965:Categories
768:John Berry
675:The Island
643:Blood Knot
389:References
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280:John Simon
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243:described
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138:Background
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39:Characters
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514:0362-4331
278:magazine
233:Reception
170:blackface
145:apartheid
117:apartheid
101:Swartkops
908:Claudine
868:Don Juan
552:New York
377:, 1991;
341:, 1978;
275:New York
189:Ruby Dee
113:Coloured
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916:Thieves
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844:Atoll K
812:Tension
423:6 March
369:), and
179:at the
107:in the
67:Setting
62:English
951:(2000)
943:(1991)
935:(1982)
927:(1978)
919:(1977)
911:(1974)
903:(1968)
895:(1966)
887:(1959)
879:(1958)
871:(1956)
863:(1955)
855:(1955)
847:(1951)
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831:(1951)
823:(1950)
815:(1949)
807:(1948)
804:Casbah
799:(1946)
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783:(1946)
726:(2014)
718:(2010)
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662:(1969)
654:(1965)
519:10 May
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418:enotes
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627:Plays
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521:2020
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425:2008
379:ISBN
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46:Outa
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