Sophocles in South Africa: Athol Fugard's The Island

Authors

Errol Durbach, University of British Columbia

Abstract

In lieu of an abstract, the first paragraph of the essay follows:

Two Bentu prisoners in their cell on Robben Island recall with nostalgia a memorable performance of Sophocles' Antigone in a black township near Port Elizabeth, one of South Africa's industrial seaports on the Indian Ocean:

John. ...Jesus, Winston! June 1965.

Winston. What?

John. This, man. Antigone. In New Brighton. St. Stephen's Hall. The place was packed, man! All the big people. Front row...dignitaries. Shit, those were the days.¹

Recommended Citation

Durbach, Errol (1984) "Sophocles in South Africa: Athol Fugard's The Island," Comparative Drama: Vol. 18: Iss. 3, Article 5.
Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/compdr/vol18/iss3/5