Award-winning South African playwright Athol Fugard will visit the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill March 19-23 as the 2012 Morgan Writer-in-Residence.
Fugard, who also is a director, filmmaker, actor and novelist, will give a free public talk, “Milestones of a Literary Journey,” on March 21 at 7:30 p.m. in the Paul Green Theater in the Center for Dramatic Art on Country Club Road.
Born in the eastern Cape town of Middleburg in 1932, Fugard was drawn to writing and acting through a strong sense of the lives he encountered around him in the small communities and sprawling cities of apartheid-era South Africa. From his plays “Blood Knot” (1961) through “Master Harold … and the Boys” (1982), “The Road to Mecca” (1987) and “The Train Driver” (2010), Fugard has strived to depict the lives of the disenfranchised, the overlooked and the voiceless. He has won major drama prizes, including New York Drama Critics Circle Awards and a Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in Theatre. Through early March, Fugard is directing “Blood Knot” in New York City, and “The Road to Mecca” also is enjoying a successful run there.
While visiting UNC, Fugard will attend classes, interact with students and participate in a variety of public events. For a complete schedule, visit http://fugard.web.unc.edu.
The film screening, staged readings and panel discussion listed below are free. Reservations are requested for staged readings and the Morgan talk. Call the PlayMakers box office at (919) 926-PLAY (7529) or visit http://www.playmakersrep.org/fugard to register.
Events include:
- March 19, 6 p.m. A screening of the Oscar-winning film “Tsotsi,” adapted from Fugard’s novel. The Varsity on Franklin Street. Introduction by Randall Kenan, associate professor of creative writing. Q&A with Fugard following the screening.
- March 20, 7:30 p.m. Fugard’s play, “Blood Knot,” will be presented by StreetSigns Center for Literature and Performance. Carrboro ArtsCenter. Directed by Joseph Megel, artist-in-residence in the department of communication studies. Tickets: $10-20. Call (919) 929-2787 or visit http://www.artscenterlive.org/.
- March 21, 2 p.m. “The Theater Today,” a panel discussion with Fugard, Ed Strong of Dodger Theatricals and Joseph Haj, producing artistic director of PlayMakers Repertory Company. University Room, Hyde Hall. Sponsored by the Institute for the Arts and Humanities.
- March 22, 5:30 p.m. Staged reading of Fugard’s “My Children! My Africa!” Center for Dramatic Art. Directed by PlayMakers company member Kathryn Hunter-Williams.
- March 23, 5:30 p.m. Staged reading of Fugard’s “The Train Driver.” Center for Dramatic Art. Directed by Megel and starring actors Treat Williams and John Beasley.
- Through April 1: The Ackland Art Museum will feature an ongoing exhibition on contemporary South African art. Visit http://www.ackland.org.
Fugard’s visit is sponsored by the Morgan Writer-in-Residence Program; the departments of English and comparative literature, and dramatic art; and PlayMakers Repertory Company — all in the College of Arts and Sciences. Carolina alumni Allen and Musette Morgan of Memphis, Tenn., established the Morgan Program in 1993 to bring writers of distinction to UNC.
