Statements - Paperback

by Athol Fugard (Author), John Kani (Author), Winston Ntshona (Author)

Developed in workshops with award-winning actors, these works in Fugard's canon most directly confront the dehumanizing brutality of apartheid.

The tragic personal consequences of life under South Africa's apartheid laws are treated with honesty and deep compassion in these three landmark plays written and premiered in the early seventies.

World-renowned dramatist Athol Fugard, along with his actor collaborators John Kani and Winston Ntshona, explored the painful particulars of their native land and created works with universal implications-plays that carry within them ringing cries for social and political change without ever uttering a word of political rhetoric.

Sizwe Bansi Is Dead reveals the perversities of human identity in a country where a man is equal to his passbook. The Island celebrates the strength of man's connection to man, even within the dehumanizing confines of a prison cell on Robben Island. Statements After an Arrest Under the Immorality Act depicts the shattering of two lives under the harsh glare of South Africa's miscegenation laws.

Author Biography

Athol Fugard (1932-2025) worked in the theater as a playwright, director and actor for more than fifty years. His plays include Blood Knot, Boesman and Lena, "Master Harold"... and the boys, The Road to Mecca, My Children! My Africa!, Statements After an Arrest Under the Immorality Act and Valley Song.

John Kani is an acclaimed South African actor. His accolades include: an Olivier Award nomination for his role in My Children! My Africa!; the 1975 Tony Award for Best Actor for his performance in Sizwe Banzi Is Dead and The Island, an award he won with fellow South African actor and frequent collaborator Winston Ntshona; the 2003 Fleur du Cap Awards for the best actor and best new South African play for his solo playwright debut, Nothing but the Truth; and a special OBIE Award in 2003 for his is also well-known for his portrayal of T'Chaka in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films.

Winston Ntshona (1941-2018) was a South African playwright and actor. Along with John Kani, Ntshona co-won the 1975 Tony Award for Best Actor in a play for their performances in both The Island and Sizwe Banzi Is Dead, which they co-wrote. He was a frequent collaborator of Athol Fugard.