A.C.T. (San Francisco, CA)
A.C.T.'s new production of Athol Fugard's breakthrough play, which first opened in 1961, holds a mirror up to the soul-searing effects of racism while exploring the inextricable bond between brothers trapped in the madness of apartheid South Africa.
Event summary prepared by the Goldstar Editorial Team.
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The last date listed for Blood Knot was Sunday March 9, 2008 / 2:00pm (Closing Night). (view all dates)
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I have seen this authors other works, and this one ranks with his best. The actors do an amazing performance, but something still lacks.
The highlight of this show is the music that moves the 2 man play along.
This show was performed in South Africa (banned in some areas) then moved to NY. It has a great trial to its history in south African theater.
My only down side is that we may have seen this story played out many times in other plays dealing with the same themes.. that can be tiring, but in the hands of these wonderful actors, its worth the two and half hours.
Vince
Vmedia Berkeley Calif.
I was pleased with the quality of the production, the actors and the scenery. Though I was a little bit turned off by the accents the actors used. The accents drifted throughout the performance from good to bad, and from Port Elizabeth to a Cape Town accent. The only reason I know this is because I had college roommates from both places and knew several other South Africans. The scenery was absolutely amazing. But the play seemed slow at times and could have been shortened by 15 minutes. I also question the relevance of performing this play today. What was it supposed to say to us, that we have not already learned.
SUPERB SHOW!
Steven Anthony Jones & Jack Willis were FAB-U-LOUS!
Thanks again GoldStar.com
The Geary Theater, built in 1909, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a San Francisco City Landmark. The theater's neo-classical brick and terra cotta facade on Geary Street opens to a monumental 1,500 seat auditorium trimmed with ornamental stenciling and gilded plaster.
Website: http://www.act-sf.org/thebloodknot/index.html
Blood Knot tells the story of two brothers trapped in the madness of apartheid South Africa. One is light-skinned enough to pass for white, the other is unmistakably black. Living together in a tumbledown shack, they wrestle with the terms of their fates and dreams—and long-simmering tensions explode over a woman.
By Athol Fugard
Directed by Charles Randolph-Wright
Music composed and recorded by Tracy Chapman
Athol Fugard (playwright) has been working in the theater as a playwright, director, and actor since the mid 1950s in South Africa, England, and the United States. His plays include: No-Good Friday, Nongogo, Blood Knot, Hello and Goodbye, People Are Living There, Boesman and Lena, Statements after an Arrest under the Immorality Act, Sizwe Banzi Is Dead, Dimetos, The Island, A Lesson from Aloes, "Master Harold" ...and the boys, The Road to Mecca, A Place with the Pigs, My Children! My Africa!, Playland, Valley Song, The Captain's Tiger, Sorrows and Rejoicings, Exits and Entrances, and his most recent play, Victory. He has been seen onstage in South Africa, in London, on and off Broadway in New York, and in regional theater in the United States. Film credits include The Road to Mecca, Gandhi, The Killing Fields, Meetings with Remarkable Men, Marigolds in August, Boesman and Lena, and The Guest. He has written the novel Tsotsi, a film version of which was made in South Africa and won the 2006 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, as well as the Michael Powell Award and the Standard Life Audience Award at the 2005 Edinburgh Film Festival, the People's Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival, and the Audience Award at the Los Angeles AFI Film Festival. He has also published his Notebooks: 1960–1977 and the autobiographical memoir Cousins.
Charles Randolph-Wright (director) returns to A.C.T., where he has directed Insurrection: Holding History, Blithe Spirit, and Tartuffe. He most recently wrote and directed the film Mama, I Want to Sing! (premiering soon in theaters) and directed the award-winning film Preaching to the Choir. He wrote the plays Blue and Cuttin' Up, and directed the 50th-anniversary national tour of Guys and Dolls, as well as other productions at Roundabout Theatre Company, the New York Shakespeare Festival, Lincoln Center, New York Theatre Workshop, Manhattan Theatre Club, Carnegie Hall, the Mark Taper Forum, the Alliance Theatre, Arena Stage, and Pasadena Playhouse. He has also written features for Disney, Fox, HBO, and Showtime. A Duke University honors graduate, he serves on Duke's artistic board and the board of directors of Roundabout Theatre Company and is a founding member of the Wright Family Foundation of South Carolina. Randolph-Wright established the workshop series "Different Voices" at the Roundabout and "Create Carolina," a new arts festival, at Winthrop University in South Carolina.
