Hartford Stage, Hartford, CT
through June 10, 2018
by Jarice Hanson
 |
| Photo: T. Charles Erikson |
Athol Fugard, recognized internationally as a playwright who
observed the horrors of the post-WWII Apartheid system in South Africa,
brilliantly recognized how definitions of race, segregation, and White
political manipulation of power could destroy individual civil rights within
the country and globally. In this powerful play, we see what the playbill
accurately notes: “The Past Informs the Present.”
The story is set in Port Elizabeth, a provincial city in
1963 at a time in which the government’s violence against resistors of the
segregationist legal system was at its apex. Piet, a White Afrikaaner sympathizes with the resistance.
His wife Gladys identifies with her British family roots and has recently been
hospitalized because of a trauma resulting from the government’s raid of their
home and the confiscation of her personal diaries. Piet’s best friend, Steve, is Coloured (biracial) family man
who decides to leave the country for England, where he hopes his children will
have a better life. The tension of living in political turmoil is heightened by
the violation each character feels and their reactions to the political
situation and their sense of fear (or denial) of what the future may bring. The
three characters’ lives are all on the brink of disaster when it becomes known
that Piet is accused of being a political informer.
Fugard’s words are potent and director Darko Tresnjak
presents us with the similarities of the Apartheid system to today’s world in
which political divisions have become entrenched and political ideology
destroys civility and civil rights. Matters of immigration, indigenous rights,
civil rights, and unfair policies destroy nations, people, families, and
friends.
In this deeply intellectual and effective production actors
Piet (Randall Newsome), Gladys, (Andrus Nichols), and Steve (Ariyon Bakare) are
brilliant in exposing the devastation each feels in their environment. Set (Tim
Mackabee), sound design (Jane Shaw), and lighting (Matthew Richards) work
seamlessly to give the illusion of both open space and claustrophobia. Once
again, Hartford Stage’s total concept of the production allows the playwright’s
words and the directorial and actors’ interpretations to meld into an effective
production that gives the audience much to think about. “A Lesson from Aloes”
is not always an easy show to watch, but it is an important play to think about
and it deserves praise for the truths it uncovers and presents.
A note on the title. The aloe plant is indigenous to South
Africa, and though the plant is ugly and full of thorns, it continues to
propagate. The rich symbolism is typical of Fugard’s work and his reputation as
a social/political observer. The play won a Tony for Best Play in 1981.
