In apartheid South Africa, competing attitudes in the black community regarding how to defeat the oppressive system made accomplishing that change difficult to achieve. In Athol Fugard’s My Children! My Africa! , Mr. M’s goal of ending apartheid...

In the play My Children! My Africa! by Athol Fugard, the characters' desires may be similar, but their many limitations due to social and political differences all contribute to conflicted viewpoints. Thami, Mr. M, and Isabel have difficulty...

The true tragedy of apartheid lies not on the surface, but in the revealing of unspoken desires underneath the surface. Starkly contrasting with the play-long idealistic image of the “all-knowing Mr M and his brilliant protege Thami”, Thami and Mr...

Athol Fugard’s plays often depict the ferment of ideas and the tenor of township lifestyle in the late twentieth century. Like he had experienced first-hand during his time in South Africa, he portrays an explosive mix of Sophia town culture,...

The concept of ‘answering back’ is a loose one which describes texts responding to other texts. It is connected to the idea of “the empire...writ[ing] back to a centre” (Ashcroft et al, p6) which is typically associated with a post-colonial text...

The Island by Athol Fugard, John Kani and Winston Ntshona is an acclaimed South African play set in a prison during the period of apartheid. The play effectively portrays the difficult experiences undergone by black convicts and the harsh...

In the play "Master Harold... And the Boys," ballroom dancing extends far beyond jazz music, swishing skirts and sashaying couples. It takes on a universality of meaning as a symbol of a "world without collisions," an inherent desire, a dream, an...

In “Master Harold”… and the Boys, black Africans are treated as though they are not as important as the white Africans. Fugard represents black Africans as people who have been disenfranchised, segregated, and less privileged in an attempt to show...

For centuries, authors have strived to use their literary texts as a medium for social change and justice – conveying their thoughts and ideas on a variety of key issues and themes. In “Hedda Gabler” by Henrik Ibsen and “Master Harold and the...

Athol Fugard’s play, “Master Harold and the Boys,” is at its core a play that examines the complex race relations between two black servants and their white employer and the conditions of South African apartheid. The excerpt from “Master Harold...

Playwrights, unlike the authors of novels and other forms of literature, employ the use of production elements and stage designs in the development of their works. These additional aspects present within the creation of theatre grant playwrights...

Light and music are two elements of drama that can become significant in developing the plot and characters. Certain playwrights may further incorporate stage lighting including directional lighting and setting lighting in order to not only divert...

In the lives of all, one will inevitably have a figure or figures in their lives to whom he or she looks up to. This may be a parent, educator, older sibling, or even peer. While it is always beneficial to have role models, at one point or...

Athol Fugard’s 1982 play “Master Harold”… and the Boys takes plays in a 1950’s South Africa suffering under the Apartheid act and tells the story of a white seventeen year-old boy, Hally, as well as two of his parents black servants, Willie and...

Morally ambiguous characters are defined as characters who cannot be identified as wholly evil or good. Both Hally, from “Master Harold” …and the boys, and Troy Maxson, from Fences, exhibit qualities of morally ambiguous characters. In Fences, by...

In the play Master Harold and the Boys, Athol Fugard forces his readers to go back in time to the 1950’s when apartheid was predominant in South Africa. Athol Fugard connects the themes of pride, privileges and freedoms (or lack of them),...