Bitef

against white men and coloured women. Here, the relationship is between a coloured man and a white woman: also, the man is played by Ben Kingsley, an Indian barely darker than the average European. He and Yvonne Bryceland play naked. We first see them quietly kneeling together, exchanging delicate caresses. But, having presented this lyrical picture, Fugard then breaks it down. The man describes the humiliations he undergoes every time he visits her; also he is betraying his family and neglecting his work to see her. Too weak to make any exclusive choice, he has lost any clear idea of where he belongs. Statements runs to barely 90. minutes, but it is much the most complex play of the season’s three. Perhaps its values are self-evident to South African spectators, but it strikes me as congested and in need of clearer articulation. But what comes through with overwhelming clarity is the obscenity of official intrusion into any sexual contract, whether happy or not. What the piece says is that people can not only be punished, but also degraded and infected with guilt by any ridiculous law which happens to be in force. However tormented the private lives of Fugard’s two lovers, they retain human dignity and intelligence. But once they are caught in the police flash-bulbs, they shrivel into guilt and panic; their bodies twist into ungainly shapes, they darpe themselves in ugly blankets. The performances are superlative: even that of the policeman whom Wilson Dunster plays as a sensible official whose correct behaviour and quiet delivery intensify the nightmare of rational men carrying out mad orders. Mr Kingsley and Miss Bryceland present an extraordinary visual performance that runs in parallel with the text. They also provide the finest single justification for nude acting I have yet seen. Either in ecstasy or shame, both use the whole body as an expressive instrument. One moment I shall not forget is Miss Bryceland’s response to an order to describe what happened in the bedroom. She blocks at the word kiss, stumbles on for a title longer, and then speech is engulfed in a howl of nausea. Pain of this intensity is rarely heard on the English stage.

Irving War dl e

Odredba

Odredba No. 23 iz 1957. u vezi sa dopunom zakona o javnim kuiama, nezakonitìm telesnìm odnosima i slicnìm radnjama. (Engleski tekst potpisao Generalni Guverner.) (Sankcionìsano 3. aprila 1957.) 0 diukom Njenog Veličanstva Kraljice, Sanata 1 Skup Itine Južnoafričke Unije, odreduje se sledeće: Objasnjenja.

I. Ovom odredbom, ukoliko u kontekstu nije drugačije naznačeno, podrazumeva se pod: (H) obojena osoba svako lice koje nije belac, (ri); (vìi) policajac pripadnik policijskih snaga, ustanovljenih snagom zakona; ( ix) (viti) nezakoniti telesni odnosi svaki telesni odnoś, osim izmedu muza i iene; (vii) (ix) belac svaka osoba, koja je po svom spoIjašnjem ìzgledu ìli opštem shvatanju i uverenju priznata kao lićnost bele putì, (i) Seksualni prekršajpočinjen između belaca i obojenih lica. 16. (I) (a) Svaka ienska osoba koja (i) ima ili numerava da ima nezakoniti telesni odnos sa obojenim muskarcem; ili (ii) je počinila ili numerava da pocini sa obojenom osobom neku nemoralnu ìli nepristojnu radnju; ili (Hi) nametala se nekom obojenom muškarcu i navodila gana nezakoniti odnos sa njom; ili (iv) nagovarala ili navodìla obojenog muśkarca da pocini neki nemoralan ili nepristojan ćin; i (b) svaka obojena żeńska osoba, koja (1) ima ili namerava da ima nezakoniti telesni odnos sa belcem; ili (ii) poiinila ili namerava da pocini sa belcem neki nemoralan ìli nepristojan čin; ìli (Hi) nametala se nekom belcu i navodìla gana nezakoniti telesni odnos sa njom; ìli (iv) nagovarala ili navodìla belca da poéìni neku nemoralnu ili nepristojnu radnju, biće proglašena krivom za povredu javnog morata. (2) (a) Svaki belac, koji (ì) ima Hi namerava da ima nezakoniti telesni odnos sa obojenom ženskom osobom; ili (ii) poiinio ili namerava da pocini sa obojenom ienskom osobom neku nemoralnu ili nepristojnu radnju; ìli (Hi) nameta se nekoj obojenoj ženskoj osobì i navodi je na nezakoniti telesni odnos sa njìm; ili (iv) nagovara ili navodi obojenu žensku osobu da počini neku nemoralnu ili nepristojnu radnju; ili (b) svaki obojeni muškarac, koji (i) ima ili namerava da ima nezakoniti telesni odnos sa belom ženom; Hi (ii) počinio ili namerava da poiini sa belom ženom neku nemoralnu Hi nepristojnu radnju; ili (Hi) nameta se nekoj beloj żeni i navodi je na nezakoniti telesni odnos sa njìm; ìli (iv) nagovarao ili navodio bela zenu da pocini neku nemoralnu ili nepristojnu radnju, biće proglašen krivìm za povredu javnog morata. Odredba No. 23 iz 1957. Kazne. 22. Za svako lice proglašcno krivim za povredu javnog morata, za koje nije odredena kazna u stavovìma ove odredbe, predvìda se (e) u sluiaju po vrede javnog morata citiranog u pododseku (I) paragrafa dvanaest, pododseku (I) paragrafa trìnaest, ìli paragrafa šesnaest kazna zatvora sa prinudnìm radom u trajanju do sedam godina; ili (h) za okrivljeno lice muškog pola ispod pedeset godina starasti, najviše deset udaraca bičem uz odgovarajuću zatvorsku ì novčanu kaznu.

Fugard

Athol Fugard was born in Middelburg, South Africa, in 1932. Fie was educated at Port Elizabeth Technical College as a motor mechanic and at the University of Cape Town in philosophy. The following three years, he spent in the Merchant Marine in the Far East. His first serious involvement in the theatre started in 1959 with his play No-Good Friday. Since then he has written several plays which have all been produced in South Africa; Nongogo, Blood Knot, People Are Living There, Boesman and Lena, Hello and Goodbye, Mille Miglia was produced for BBC television. For the last ten years he has been involved with the Serpent Players, a group of aspirant African actors from New Brighton, Port Elizabeth, who approached him for advice and assistance in forming a drama group. Over those years they have together conducted a series of experiments in ”play-making” the main object of which has been to articulate a response to the realities of the South African scene. Sizwe Bansi is Dead and The Island were products of these experiments in play-making.

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