The Shadow of the Hummingbird | |
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Written by | Athol Fugard (introductory scene by Paula Fourie) |
Characters | Oupa Boba |
Date premiered | 26 March 2014 |
Place premiered | Long Wharf Theatre, New Haven |
Original language | English |
Setting | Southern California |
The Shadow of the Hummingbird is a play written by South African playwright Athol Fugard. It made its world premiere at the Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut, with its first run from 26 March to 23 April 2014. It was directed by Gordon Edelstein, the Long Wharf Theatre's artistic director, and starred Fugard as an elderly writer living in Southern California (loosely based on Fugard himself), when he is visited by his ten-year-old grandson. It marked Fugard's first appearance on stage as an actor in fifteen years. [1]
The title of the play comes from Fugard observing a hummingbird's shadow one day while writing at his home in San Diego. The opening scene, with the writer searching through his old notebooks and reading excerpts from them, was written by his life partner (now wife) Paula Fourie, who based them on Fugard's diaries and unpublished notebooks. [2]
"Master Harold"...and the boys is a play by Athol Fugard. Set in 1950, it was first produced at the Yale Repertory Theatre in March 1982 and made its premiere on Broadway on 4 May at the Lyceum Theatre, where it ran for 344 performances. The play takes place in South Africa during apartheid era, and depicts how institutionalized racism, bigotry or hatred can become absorbed by those who live under it. It is said to be a semi-autobiographical play, as Athol Fugard's birth name was Harold and his boyhood was very similar to Hally's, including his father being disabled, and his mother running a tea shop to support the family. His relationship with his family's servants was similar to Hally's as he sometimes considered them his friends, but other times treated them like subservient help, insisting that he be called "Master Harold", and once spitting in the face of one he had been close to. Additionally the play was remade for a suitable audience in 2005.
Athol Fugard OIS HonFRSL is a South African playwright, novelist, actor, and director widely regarded as South Africa's greatest playwright. He is best known for his political and penetrating plays opposing the system of apartheid. Some of these have also been adapted for film.
Bonisile John Kani,, is a South African actor, author, director and playwright. He is known for portraying T'Chaka in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Captain America: Civil War (2016) and Black Panther (2018), Rafiki in The Lion King (2019) and Colonel Ulenga in the Netflix films Murder Mystery (2019) and Murder Mystery 2 (2023).
The Market Theatre, based in the downtown bohemian suburb of Newtown in Johannesburg, South Africa, was opened in 1976, operating as an independent, anti-racist theatre during the country's apartheid regime. It was named after a fruit and vegetable market that was previously located there. It was also known as the Old Indian Market or the Newtown Market, which closed after 60 years. The Market Theatre was renamed John Kani Theatre in 2014 after the renowned South African stage actor John Kani.
Yvonne Bryceland was a South African stage actress. Some of her best-known work was in the plays of Athol Fugard.
Sheila Meiring Fugard is a writer of short stories and plays and the ex-wife of South African playwright Athol Fugard.
Long Wharf Theatre is a nonprofit institution in New Haven, Connecticut, a pioneer in the not-for-profit regional theatre movement, the originator of several prominent plays, and a venue where many internationally known actors have appeared.
Blood Knot is an early play by South African playwright, actor, and director Athol Fugard. Its single-performance premier was in 1961 in Johannesburg, South Africa, with the playwright and Zakes Mokae playing the brothers Morris and Zachariah.
The Island is a play written by Athol Fugard, John Kani, and Winston Ntshona.
Boesman and Lena is a small-cast play by South African playwright Athol Fugard, set in the Swartkops mudflats outside of Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape. It features a "Coloured" man and woman walking from one shanty town to another, and explores the effect of apartheid on a few individuals.
The Road to Mecca is a play by South African playwright Athol Fugard. It was inspired by the story of Helen Martins, who lived in Nieu-Bethesda, Eastern Cape, South Africa and created The Owl House, which is now a National heritage site.
Dennis Parichy is an American lighting designer. He won the 1980 Drama Desk Award for Talley's Folly and the Obie Award in 1981.
Susan Hilferty is an American costume designer for theatre, opera, and film.
The Space Theatre was a fringe theatre in Cape Town, South Africa which was active in the 1970s. It re-opened in late 2008.
The Train Driver is a play by South African playwright Athol Fugard.
Dorothy Mary Benson was a South African civil rights campaigner and author.
A Lesson from Aloes is a 1978 play by South African playwright Athol Fugard. It is the story of Piet Bezuidenhout, a red-faced, big-hearted Afrikaner, who is suspected of being an informer; Gladys, his fragile embittered wife, whose tenuous hold on sanity has been broken by a routine police raid during which her diaries were ransacked; and Steve Daniels, a Colored activist just out of jail and about to leave South Africa for England on an Exit visa.
Brian Astbury was a South African photographer, theatre director, acting and writing teacher, and founder of The Space Theatre in Cape Town, South Africa.
Eric Abraham is a South African-British producer and former journalist and activist. Born and raised in South Africa, he moved in 1977 to England, where he lived in exile for 15 years for his reporting in opposition to the South African apartheid government in the press. He has since worked in theatre and screen, co-founding the London-based Portobello Productions as well as Cape Town's Isango Portobello and Fugard Theatre.
The Fugard Theatre, also known as The Fugard, was opened in the District Six area of Cape Town, South Africa, in February 2010. The Fugard Theatre, as an artistic producing and receiving house, closed permanently in March 2021. After commissioning and underwriting the construction of the theatre in 2009 and 10 years of philanthropic support and producing involvement, the founding producer of the Fugard, Eric Abraham, returned the building that housed the Fugard Theatre complex to its freehold owner, the District Six Museum. The building was handed back with two fully equipped auditoria – the Main Theatre and The Sigrid Rausing Studio – in the hope that it will be able to be used for the financial benefit of the Museum and the memory of District Six and its community. The theatre reopened in 2022 as the District Six Homecoming Centre, a cultural venue for events and theatre productions.