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.
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 talk, “Milestones of a Literary Journey,” at 7:30 p.m. March 21 in the Paul Green Theatre in the Center for Dramatic Art on Country Club Road.
The talk and staged readings of Fugard’s plays are free, but reservations are requested. Call the PlayMakers box office at (919) 926-PLAY (7529) or visit http://www.playmakersrep.org/fugard to register.
Related events at UNC include:
- March 19, 6 p.m. A screening of the Oscar-winning film “Tsotsi,” adapted from Fugard’s novel. Varsity Theater on Franklin Street. Free.
- March 20, 7:30 p.m. Performance of “Blood Knot,” Carrboro ArtsCenter. Tickets: $10-20. (919) 929-2787, http://www.artscenterlive.org/.
- March 21, 2 p.m. “The Theater Today” panel discussion, University Room, Hyde Hall. Free.
- March 22, 5:30 p.m. Staged reading of Fugard’s “My Children! My Africa!” Center for Dramatic Art. Free, reservations requested.
- March 23, 5:30 p.m. Staged reading of Furgard’s “The Train Driver” (2010). Free, reservations requested. Film and television actor Treat Williams, best known for his roles in “Hair” and “D.B. Cooper,” and his “Everwood” co-star John Beasley will read.
- Through April 1: Exhibition of contemporary South African art, Ackland Art Museum, http://www.ackland.org.
In his plays, which include “Blood Knot” (1961) “Master Harold … and the Boys” (1982) and “The Road to Mecca” (1987), Fugard has depicted the lives of the disenfranchised, the overlooked and the voiceless. He has won the 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.
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.
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.
Websites: http://fugard.web.unc.edu, http://www.playmakersrep.org/fugard, http://englishcomplit.unc.edu/morgan
Photo: http://fugard.web.unc.edu/files/2011/12/PICT0002-225×300.jpg
Morgan Writer contact: Susan H. Irons, (919) 962-4283, susan_irons@unc.edu
College of Arts and Sciences contact: Kim Spurr, (919) 962-4093, spurrk@email.unc.edu