The Train Driver

Last updated

The Train Driver
Written by Athol Fugard
Date premiered19 March 2010 (2010-03-19)
Place premiered Fugard Theatre, Cape Town
Original language English

The Train Driver is a play by South African playwright Athol Fugard.

The play revolves around the character of Roelf Visagie, a white train driver who is haunted by having killed a black woman and her baby who had stepped onto the tracks in front of his train. [1] Roelf then travels through a South African shantytown, in search of the identity of the mother and child he had unintentionally killed. [2]

It was first produced at the Fugard Theatre in Cape Town, South Africa, where it was directed by Fugard himself. The United States premiere was presented at The Fountain Theatre, Los Angeles, in 2010–2011 to positive reviews. [3] It was restaged at the Hampstead Theatre, London, in 2010. [4]

Production history

The Train Driver was first presented at the Fugard Theatre in Cape Town in March 2010. [5] The original production was directed by Fugard and featured Owen Sejake and Sean Taylor. The production was designed by Saul Radomsky with lighting by Mannie Manim and sound by John Leonard.

The play was re-staged at the Hampstead Theatre in London where it previewed from 4 November 2010 and opened on 9 November 2010. [4] [6] [7]

The first United States production of The Train Driver was presented at the Fountain Theatre in Los Angeles from 16 October 2010 to 30 January 2011. [8] It was directed by Stephen Sachs and featured Morlan Higgins as Roelf Visagie and Adolphus Ward as Simon Hanabe. [9] In 2012 the play was staged in the Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre at the Pershing Square Signature Center in New York City. [10] [11] [1]

In 2018 it was presented at the Market Theatre in Johannesburg, South Africa, as part of a celebration of Fugard's 86th birthday. [12]

Related Research Articles

<i>"Master Harold"...and the Boys</i> 1982 play by Athol Fugard

"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.

Athol Fugard, Hon., , 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 and for the 2005 Oscar-winning film of his novel Tsotsi, directed by Gavin Hood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Kani</span> South African actor (born 1943)

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 2019 remake of The Lion King and Colonel Ulenga in the Netflix film Murder Mystery (2019).

Yvonne Bryceland was a South African stage actress. Some of her best-known work was in the plays of Athol Fugard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Željko Ivanek</span> American actor of Slovenian-Croatian origin (born 1957)

Željko Ivanek is a Slovenian-American actor known for his role as Ray Fiske on Damages, for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award. Ivanek is also known for his role of Ed Danvers on Homicide: Life on the Street and Homicide: The Movie, J.J. Percy Walker on Big Love, Governor James Devlin on Oz, Andre Drazen on 24, Blake Sterling on the short-lived series The Event, and Emile "The Hunter" Danko in Heroes. From 2014 until 2019, he starred as Russell Jackson in the drama Madam Secretary. He also had a recurring role as FBI Special Agent Jim Racine in the series Banshee.

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.

Emily Skinner, also known as Emily Scott Skinner, is a Tony-nominated American stage actor and singer. She has played leading roles in such Broadway productions as Prince of Broadway, The Cher Show, Side Show, Jekyll & Hyde, James Joyce's The Dead, The Full Monty, Dinner at Eight, Billy Elliot, as well as the Actor's Fund Broadway concerts of Dreamgirls and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. She has sung on concert stages around the world and on numerous recordings.

<i>Sizwe Banzi Is Dead</i> 1972 South African play

Sizwe Banzi Is Dead is a play by Athol Fugard, written collaboratively with two South African actors, John Kani and Winston Ntshona, both of whom appeared in the original production. Its world première occurred on 8 October 1972 at the Space Theatre, Cape Town, South Africa. Its subsequent British première won a London Theatre Critics Award for the Best Play of 1974. Its American première occurred at the Edison Theatre, in New York City, on 13 November 1974. It has been ranked among the best plays ever made by The Independent, where it was described as a "deceptively light and humane play that outlasts the apartheid era."

The Fountain Theatre is a theatre in Los Angeles. Along with its programming of live theatre, it's also the foremost producer of flamenco on the West Coast.

Stephen Sachs is an American stage director and playwright. He is the Co-Artistic Director of The Fountain Theatre in Los Angeles, which he co-founded in 1990.

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, that shows the effect of apartheid on a few individuals, featuring as characters a "Coloured" man and woman walking from one shanty town to another.

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.

Nicholas Verney Wright is a British dramatist.

The Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre is a non-competitive award created by the American Theatre Wing in 1990. They are presented to institutions, individuals and/or organizations that have demonstrated extraordinary achievement in theatre, but are not eligible to compete in any of the established Tony Award categories. The Tony Honors "are announced in the autumn. They are bestowed at a separate ceremony that affords recipients a special moment in the spotlight." As explained in Playbill, "In 2003, a new tradition began for the Tony Honors, which were previously announced during the Tony Awards broadcast. Last year, however, the Honors were presented in the fall..."

Hello and Goodbye is a 1965 play by South African playwright Athol Fugard.

A Lesson from Aloes is a 1978 play by South African playwright Athol Fugard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fugard Theatre</span> Theater in Cape Town, South Africa

The Fugard Theatre, also known as The Fugard, was opened in the District Six area of Cape Town, South Africa in February 2010. The site is currently managed by the District Six Museum Board following the theatre's official closure in March 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Saheem Ali is a Kenyan theatre director. He is Associate Artistic Director at The Public Theater in New York City.

References

  1. 1 2 Dziemianowicz, Joe (9 September 2012). "Theater Review: 'The Train Driver' by Athol Fugard at Signature Center". Daily News . New York City. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  2. ↑ "Casting Set for Signature Theatre Revival of Athol Fugard's The Train Driver". Broadway.com . 17 July 2012. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  3. ↑ "United States Premiere! | Extended Thru January 30th! | The Train Driver". The Fountain Theatre . 27 December 2010. Archived from the original on 19 December 2010. Retrieved 27 December 2010.
  4. 1 2 "What's on Main Stage | Hampstead Theatre". Hampstead Theatre . 4 November 2010. Archived from the original on 4 November 2010. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
  5. ↑ Dugger, Celia W. (12 March 2010). "His Next Act: Driving Out Apartheid's Ghost" . The New York Times . Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  6. ↑ Billington, Michael (10 November 2010). "The Train Driver – review". The Guardian . Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  7. ↑ Taylor, Paul (15 November 2010). "The Train Driver, Hampstead Theatre, London". The Independent . Archived from the original on 20 June 2022. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  8. ↑ Hagan, Molly (11 October 2010). "Photo Flash: Athol Fugard's THE TRAIN DRIVER at the Fountain Theater". BroadwayWorld . Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  9. ↑ Perr, Harvey (30 October 2010). "Theater Review: THE TRAIN DRIVER (Fountain Theater in L.A.)". stageandcinema.com. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  10. ↑ Isherwood, Charles (10 September 2012). "In Tortured Empathy, a Ghost Hovers" . The New York Times . Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  11. ↑ Brown, Scott (14 September 2012). "Theater Review: Athol Fugard's The Train Driver" . Vulture . Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  12. ↑ Stones, Lesley (10 May 2018). "THEATRE: Theatre Review: 'The Train Driver' doesn't take the easy track". Daily Maverick . Retrieved 24 December 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.