Blood Knot
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| Blood Knot | |
| Written by | Athol Fugard |
|---|---|
| Characters | Morris Zachariah |
| Date of premiere | 1964 |
| IBDB profile | |
Blood Knot is an early play by South Africa's Athol Fugard.
It debuted Off-Broadway in 1964, with J.D. Cannon as Morris and James Earl Jones as Zachariah. It made its Broadway debut in 1986, with playwright Fugard and Zakes Mokae playing the brothers, as they had in the play's single debut performance in Johannesburg[1]
[edit] Reception and impact
The play was filmed by the BBC in 1967, with the author's collaboration, with the Jamaican actor, Charles Hyatt, as Zach and the author again as Morris. Fugard was pleased with the results. [2] Less pleased, the apartheid South African government of B. J. Vorster confiscated his passport. [3]
In the New York Times reviewing the anniversary performance of a 1980s revival of the play with Fugard himself in the role of Morris, and Zakes Mokae in the role of Zach which he had originally played in South African production in 1961, [1], the great theater critic Mel Gussow described the play as "An artfully executed theatrical dialogue...one can discover the seeds of the author's art. Themes, motifs, images and the author's own impassioned conscience are all there in organic form." In Time (magazine), the same performance was reviewed by Pulitzer Prize-winning critic, William A. Henry III, who commented on the long collaboration between the two actors: "The actors' blood knot of decades of fraternal friendship has only ripened their truth onstage." [4]
[edit] Plot summary
There are only two characters in the play, a pair of brothers named Morris and Zachariah. Both were raised by the same black mother, but had different fathers, and Morris is much more fair-skinned than Zachariah. Morris can pass for white, and has done so in the past, but now he has returned to live with Zachariah in a small, miserable shack in the "colored" section of Port Elizabeth. Morris keeps the house, while Zachariah works to support them both. They're saving money in hopes of buying a farm of their own some day. Both Morris and Zachariah have rich imaginations, and have taken part in role-playing games together since they were small boys.
The lonely Zachariah has struck up a pen-pal relationship with a white girl, and entertains fantasies that she might fall in love with him. The more level-headed Morris tries to disabuse Zachariah of such notions, and warns him that in segregated South Africa, such a relationship can only mean trouble, especially since the girl has indicated in letters that she has a brother who's a policeman.
Morris' fears are soon realized, as Zachariah's pen-pal writes to say that she's coming to visit Port Elizabeth, and wants to meet Zachariah. Zachariah must face the tragic truth that he can never have a future with her, that she can never love him, and that she would be horrified to see who he really is. To avoid having her meet Zachariah, the brothers agree to have the white-looking Morris meet her, and pass himself off as Zachariah.
To prepare for the date, Morris buys some fine "white" clothes with the money that he and his brother had been saving. When he puts on the clothes, he begins to adopt the white mannerisms and speech patterns that he'd learned years earlier, when trying to "pass" in white society. As he does so, he begins to treat his brother like an inferior, as any middle-class white South African would treat a black servant.
When a letter arrives, indicating that the girl will not be coming for a visit after all, Zachariah and his relieved brother Morris begin a new role-playing game. This time, the game take bizarre twists. It becomes evident that Morris secretly holds his brother in disdain, and Zachariah secretly harbors thoughts of killing Morris.
The play ends with no real resolution. Morris and Zachariah will, apparently, remain together for many unhappy years to come, needing each other, but unable to bridge the gap brought about by their respective skin tones.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Stage: 'The Blood Knot' by Fugard, reviewed by Mel Gussow, New York Times, September 24, 1985, accessed February 7, 2008
- ^ ""Back in S´Kop after five weeks in London for BBC TV production of The Blood Knot. Myself as Morrie, with Charles Hyatt as Zach. Robin Midgley directing. Midgley reduced the play to 90 minutes...Midgley did manage to dig up things that had been missed in all the other productions. Most exciting was his treatment of the letter writing scene - ´Address her` -which he turned into an essay in literacy...Zach sweating as the words clot in his mouth...", Notebooks 1960-1977 1983, ISBN 0-86852-011-X, A.D. Donker
- ^ Crossing boundaries: the genesis of the township plays - Athol Fugard Issue by Dennis Walder, Twentieth Century Literature, Winter, 1993
- ^ Brothers the Blood Knot, William A. Henry III, September 30, 1985, accessed February 7, 2008
